How to Dry Out a Wet Basement

Not very many things are more frustrating than a wet basement. Even modest amounts of moisture can render a basement nearly unusable. Things that are stored are ruined by mold and mildew. The odor can be a deterrent to spending time there. The basement can become the dark dank place of children’s nightmares.

In order to rid the basement of moisture, the source of the moisture needs to be discovered. The first question to be answered is when is the moisture most evident. Is the moisture always present or does it come and go with the rain or a wet season like spring or fall? If it is an occasional visitor, you are fighting drainage problems and possibly a wet weather spring. If it is always lurking about, the problem is probably a high water table.

The amount of moisture may range from a damp feeling to standing water. The solutions for either amount is similar. A fix has to either remove the way that water enters the basement, or remove the water before it can be a problem. Both answers require a lot of work and determination.

If the water problem is a wet weather occurrence only, three fixes are possible. Good guttering can be place to start. The gutters will shunt the water away from the foundation of the house. By using elongated downspouts to carry the water an additional ten or more feet from the house, any problem from standing water around the basement will be lessened. For some, this one fix will cure the moisture dilemma.

The second step would be to dig down to the foundation and coat the outer walls with some type of barrier. This can range from simple tar to polyethylene sheeting. Repair any obvious cracks. While the foundation is exposed, trench out from the basement in several areas. Lay in perforated drain pipes and surround them with gravel. If this can be done at two or three levels as the backfilling is being done, it will help keep all moisture from staying around long enough to enter the basement.

When the dirt is back in place around the basement, some sculpting needs to happen. The ground needs to be sloped away from the basement walls. By making this slope rather steep, the water will run away without penetrating near the house. These three fixes will repair almost all wet weather moisture problems.

For basements with a high water table problem, the fix takes a different turn. Sealing up the walls of the basement will not always stop the push of continuous water. The solution is to get rid of the water that surrounds the basement. Since the basement did not become a pond while the house was being built, it is likely that the water table just touches the bottom of the basement floor.

To get rid of this water, the basement floor needs to be trenched. If a usable sump is already in place anticipating moisture, a good sump pump will probably keep the moisture out of most of the basement. The problem with a sump is that water is already breaching the basement interior to reach the pump. The pump will keep flooding from happening, but it will not keep the basement from sometimes having that damp feeling.

By trenching across the basement floor where the moisture or water is most apparent, a drain system can be installed to keep the water out of the house. Once the trench is in place, perforated tile or tubing needs to be installed that will carry all of the moisture to one spot. This area needs to be a vertical pipe a foot or more in diameter and several feet long. The water will collect in this pipe under the floor and be pumped away.

Replace the concrete over the trench. A small opening needs to be left over the pipe. A pump should be installed under the floor with a tube to conduct the water up away from the pump and to some point outside several feet from the basement wall. The opening in the basement floor needs to be covered by a metal lid that can be sealed into place.

If it is desired, a battery backup can be put into place to keep the pump from failing if the electricity goes off. This system should remove the water problem from the basement for good.

For many people, all of the above may seem too tough for a do-it-yourself project. While the cost will increase exponentially when done by professionals, the work will be backed by warranties for several years. The homeowner will not have to face the possible embarrassment of not being able to finish the job or having it not work at the end.