Tips On How To Keep Your Basement From Flooding

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Do you own a home with a basement? Are you tired of having to deal with a damp or flooded basement? Here are some tips on how you can keep your basement dry and free from water:

Slope the ground away from your home: If the ground slopes toward your home, water will collect around your foundation when it rains. Although good professional basement waterproofing may be able to keep some of the moisture out, the water pressure can still force your basement to flood. Check the slope of the ground around your house. If your home seems to sit at the bottom of a hill or in a slight depression, you can add soil around the perimeter of your home to help direct water away. You may also want to consider installing a French drain system around the outside of your house, so that the water has somewhere to go.

Install gutters and drain spouts: Gutters and drain spouts may seem like a needless expense to some people, but they perform an important function. When properly installed and maintained, the drain spout for your gutter system will direct water away from your foundation. With less water around your foundation, your basement waterproofing will be able to do its job better and keep your basement drier. For best results, the end of the downspout should be located several feet away from your foundation.

Don't grow plants next to your house: Keep plants and shrubs away from your home. Plant roots break up the soil and provide a pathway for moisture to invade your basement. Find out the average root length of the plants you wish to grow and make sure to grow them further away. For example, if you find out that a particular plant has an average root length of 10 inches, you should grow it 12 inches or more away from your home.

Contact a basement waterproofing company: A basement waterproofing company will be able to do things that most homeowners are unable to do. One thing they might do is to inject a slurry of bentonite clay around your home. This clay is extremely absorbent and will retain many times its weight in water. The slurry will fill up the microscopic cracks and crevices that lead into your basement, creating a waterproof barrier that will prevent most moisture from entering. 

Although there are many things that you can do on your own to stop your basement from flooding, sometimes you need professional assistance. A basement waterproofing company will be able to verify that your setup is adequate, as well as suggest steps that they will be able to take to keep your basement dry and free of moisture.


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