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Moisture Problems – Listen To Your Home (Part 8)

Before going further into high water tables, let’s stop for a moment and reflect on what we have accomplished so far. In the beginning, I asked that you begin to look at the house differently. To take off your real estate agent or homeowner cap and begin to look at the house through the eyes of a home inspector. My intention was to show you that the house can begin to talk to you and tell you where the problems exist, if you will only listen.

Our 1st example of ‘seeing through walls’ has been, when walking around the exterior of the house, you can quickly determine if there is a wet basement…before going inside. Earth, walks, steps, patios, driveways that are flat or have settled and sloped towards the foundation, NOW, should immediately scream basement moisture. Gutters without downspout extensions will shout wet foundations. Trees, retaining walls, small hills that do not allow rain and snow water to flow unobstructed to the street, alley, or city drainage easements ought to holler dampness.

Are you beginning to hear the whisper?

Those musty smells in the lower level…moisture. Orange, yellow, black, grey, and white powdery wall discoloration…moisture. Peeled foundation wall paint…yep…moisture. Warped paneling, black rings around baseboard trim nails, rusted drywall nails…you guessed it, moisture. Seepage ring stains along the edge of the floor slab, crackly vinyl tiles, stiff carpet edges…you got it! I would estimate that over 85% of all MN basements have dampness. And I suspect this would hold true for all homes throughout the U.S. that have below grade space.

Before starting all my home inspections, I ask my clients what they are most concerned about in purchasing this home. Every time one of the top 3 concerns will be not having a wet basement.

NOW, if you are asked the same question, just glance over their shoulder, look at the land and hardscaping, and you can give them an informed answer, because this IS the cause of over 90% of all wet basements. Even if, and there is a small chance, the basement isn’t damp, it’s just a matter of time before it will be. So fix it now or pay for it dearly latter. It is so basic I’m surprised so many homeowners neglect it. When you run water towards something it’s bound to come in…at some time.
AND that’s not OK.

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Moisture Problems – High Water Table Issues(Part 7)

Last week I asked why roof gutters with no or short downspout extensions was so bad. The answer is, when dumping massive amounts of water on small isolated points of a foundation, even the best of soils and grading cannot handle the volume. Notice on this picture the mold and water damage going up the corner of the basement. This is where a downspout had been missing on the outside of the house. Gutters are good, but if not kept intact, they can also funnel water into a basement or crawl space.

DO YOU REMEMBER?
90% of wet basements are caused by not controlling surface water

Control of surface water is accomplished with positive landscaping, hardscaping, and sometimes gutters. But control of sub surface water can be a little more difficult…to recognize and to correct. Less than 10% of the time homes are built on land with a high water table. In these situations landscaping, hardscaping, and gutters will do nothing to keep water out of the basement. When a home is built in a water table or so close to a high water table that fluctuates with heavy rains and snow thaws, you will need to have a sump pump and drain tiles.

How can real estate agents and homeowners tell if a home is built on a high water table?

In this situation, basements and crawl spaces will flood. What I mean is the entire basement floor will get wet… not just damp walls and maybe some seepage stains along the edges of the floor. Flooded floors disclose themselves almost like leaving a dirt ring around your bathtub when you get out. There will be uniform water marks on all four walls at the same elevation off the floor.

There are other indicators of a high water table problem and we will cover those as we continue our journey with basement and crawl space moisture next week.

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Moisture Problems – Gutters (Part 6)

Large volumes of water discharge off a home’s roof and can compound a basement or crawl space moisture problem. Depending on the roof design, the amount of water can often be too much for even a yard that is properly graded away from the house. Sometimes we need to add gutters and downspouts to the roof eaves. However, all roofs do not need gutters, in fact, most do not.

DID YOU KNOW?
Building code does not require a house to have gutters

Controlling roof drainage is important, but it is never a substitute for proper grading. Too often frustrated homeowners look for the quickest and easiest fix to a basement moisture problem. When landscaping and hardscaping is too difficult or too expensive they look for a short cut. The easy answer is to install gutters, but roof drainage is always secondary to correct earth grading. So, if the landscaping and hardscaping are positively sloped away from the house and the foundation is still damp or wet then adding gutters to the roof is essential. Gutters will manage the surface water coming off the roof and, if properly installed, harmlessly drain it away from the foundation.

So how would a homeowner or real estate agent know when a home should have gutters?

The design of the house is the most common indicator. Homes that most often need to control roof drainage to stay dry have any one or all of the following characteristics:

• Steep roof pitch
• Roofs with valleys
• No overhangs or small roof overhangs

These house styles dump huge amounts of water directly on the foundation which, depending on the type of soil, will saturate the earth adjacent to the walls. These wet soils will hold moisture on or adjacent to the foundation which will eventually migrate towards and run down alongside the basement or crawl space walls. Gutters with the proper extensions will direct this water away from the house.

Understanding that all homes do not need gutters to stay dry…then what could be worse than a roof that needs gutters and doesn’t have any? How about a roof that has gutters with no or short downspout extensions…why?

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