sump pump Archives - Cities Inspection Service

July 11, 2013

9 Steps for Solving Unseasonably Wet Basements

What can a homeowner or real estate agent do NOW to better protect their homes against moisture intrusion?

This question is coming up all of the time this year. 2013 is a little unique and if the home that you have owned for years, or have just purchased, has moisture in the basement; you may just be experiencing the strange end to the past winter. We have had lots of rain and freeze thaw conditions that have overcome basement protection in many MN homes. You are likely discovering that basement protection that has worked for many years has simply been overwhelmed by seasonal conditions.

Homeowners, follow these 9 Steps to prevent a repeat of this year’s conditions causing moisture problems in the lower level of your home.

Clean out and cover, window wells

Fill all low spots along the side of your foundation

Grade the soil away from the exterior wall, to an angle of 6 inches fall, in the first 10 feet from the foundation. If you don’t have 10 feet from the foundation to an obstruction or the boundary line; create a swale. Swales will be described in the very next blog.

Clean out and replace or repair any damage to gutters

Make sure gutter downspouts extend at least 6 feet away from the foundation

Verify the neighbors’ gutter extensions are not directed towards your house

Test the sump pump

Make sure the sump pump exterior discharge pipe extends at least 10 feet away from the foundation (not into the laundry tub or floor drain)

Have a battery backup sump pump installed

MN real estate agents, when contracting a home inspector in the future; be certain that you have employed someone who is on top of their game and very knowledgeable about grading, drainage, and sumps. Fail to employ a knowledgeable and diligent inspector and you may pay the price in a year like 2013.

When buying or selling a home, it is important to use the services of the best MN home inspector that you can find. Do your due diligence, and be certain that you are employing somebody who doesn’t miss the details. Ask yourself…

Can this inspector find the elusive signs of occasional water problems as well as all the other issues found in today’s homes?

Doug Hastings
MN Home Inspector, Minneapolis & St. Paul
Kaplan University, Home Inspection Lead Instructor

Rob ‘Pops’ Leslie
Kaplan Professionals, Retired

March 7, 2013

Moisture Problems – Sumps to Big Bumps (Part 13)

Basements and crawl spaces with sump baskets may or may not be drain tiled. And drain tiles can be located on either the interior or the exterior of the foundation footing. Contractors will give varying opinions on which method is best, but it really doesn’t matter. In real swampy locations, ‘cautious’ contractors will install drainage tiles on both sides of the foundation. Home inspectors in Minneapolis and St. Paul pay very close attention to the existence and quality of installation of these sumps in order to protect their clients from future water damage and mold problems.

Next, what about big hills? Historically, home buyers and Realtors have been very skittish about homes that back up to large hills. The obvious concern is the large volume of water running directly towards the house. Frankly, many people walk away from purchasing a perfectly good home just because of this topography. Steep hills in building code terms are those that have a 45 degree slope or greater. The question is should we be apprehensive about this. The answer is no…just as long as the correct detail to earth slope, drainage swales, and possibly retaining walls are observed.

So, if we obey the principles of controlling surface and subsurface water, we should be able to buy or sell a home, with confidence, in almost any location and keep the water out of the basement. As a MN home inspector for the past 25 years, it’s amazing to me that so many homeowners don’t do this. They sure would sleep better on those dark rainy nights if they did.

Did you know small moisture intrusion problems in basements are a much greater mold concern than a major flood…WHY?

Doug Hastings
Home Inspector Minnesota
Kaplan Instructor

February 22, 2013

Moisture Problems – Is Your Drain Tile Dependable (Part 12)

Too many homebuyers have hired MN home inspectors that found the sellers disclosure regarding basement moisture to be incorrect and sometimes blatantly false. Unfortunately, too often, unsuspecting real estate agents are pulled into this scheme. The biggest culprits of this ruse are sump pumps and drain tiles. You would be surprised how many innocent agents are told the basement of the house they listed is drain tiled…and never look to verify that it is true. This is way too risky and this home inspector intends for that never to happen to you. Honestly and understandably, many agents and homeowners have never been trained to be able to distinguish between the different types of water control systems.

Did You Remember?

Some systems work and many do not.

Recently, one of my home inspection students told a horror story in class about a lawsuit his daughter won against the real estate agents involved in her home purchase. The MLS listing stated that the house was drain tiled and the buyer’s agent when seeing the sump basket verbally confirmed that to be true. The daughter moved into the house and the basement flooded shortly thereafter. She was eventually awarded a $30,000 claim against both agents.

Did You Know?

Water always goes to the easiest exit point.

Drain tiled basements have a pipe that is continuous around the entire perimeter of the foundation. This 4” pipe has holes that will freely gather ground water before it gets onto the floor. These pipes extend and dump water into the basket which is then pumped outside.

So take the cover off the sump basket and look inside. If you see two 4” pipes coming thru the side of the basket, the basement is drain tiled and dependable. If there are no pipes, the basement is not drain tiled and undependable.

Very often what looks like a drain tiled basement turns out to be nothing but a pit in the floor. This would be a mega real estate agent or homebuyer nightmare.

Oh the sweet sound of the house speaking so softly.

February 11, 2013

Moisture Problems – Sump Pumps and Drain Tile (Part 11)

Many homebuyers and real estate agents have the perception that a sump pump and drain tile indicate a problematic house, something they should walk away from…nothing could be further from the truth. When this system is installed properly it will really work. Soil conditions will impact the exact type of installation and the elevation of the water table on how often it will need to operate, but when these two factors are considered this method of water control is very reliable.

Why is it that so many people continue to have this uneasiness about sumps?

Sumps and pumps have evolved over the years. Old drain tile systems are made with clay tiles and placed directly in the dirt. Because of the brittle material and open joints, they are prone to becoming damaged or plugged with silt. It’s not uncommon for this condition to exist in many homes today. In addition, countless con artists have designed cheaper “quick and easy” water control methods for homeowner installation. Commonly called beaver systems, these systems failed miserably and most of these people ended up in jail for fraud. Both of these systems are concealed, either below the basement floor or behind finished walls. So…using our “see thru wall’ home inspector eyes, how could a buyer or agent tell if either of these risky conditions existed?

It’s simple – find the basement floor drain. Most drains are on the surface of the floor, but sometimes they are below a wood or metal cover plate that you must lift up. These old systems will drain directly into a plumbing floor drain which indicates that problem home.

But newer drain tile systems are embedded in gravel and made with a continuous plastic pipe with holes. These pipes are more durable and are covered with a silt screen fabric that keeps them from becoming plugged. The sump pump will be discharged into the yard and in some instances there will be an additional battery backup pump. These systems are very reliable and should put the homeowner, buyer or the real estate agent at ease.

How would you recognize this type of dependable installation? Do all sumps have drainage pipes that go around the perimeter of the foundation? Next week let’s listen to what the house and this MN home inspector have to say about these matters.

January 30, 2013

Moisture Problems – High Water Table Signs (Part 10)

When a home is built on land with a high water table, re-grading and gutters are not the correction to the problem. Remember, grading and gutters correct stained, damp or wet walls and, sometimes, minor floor seepage stains. This problem could exist on a portion of one wall, on an entire wall, or on all the walls. It will depend upon the condition of the outside landscaping on the other side of the foundation. Has the house not spoken to you? Are you now confident in being able to recognize these types of situations?

In a high water table situation the observations will be very different. For example, you might spot that the bottom of wood beam posts in the middle of the basement are soft and rotted. Maybe sections of the concrete floor are cracked, buckled, and pushed up from hydrostatic water pressure. Typically these cracks will have water marks on the edges. You might even see loose vinyl floor tiles, tiles with water marks on the seams, or a brittle crackly noise when you walk on these tiles. If you’re really adventurous, take a small screw driver and pull back carpet corners looking for water damaged wood tack stripping. Can you see a consistent water mark ring on all the walls around the perimeter of the foundation?

If you can see any of these clues, can you begin to
hear the sound of a flooded basement?

Flooded basements will have the same problems existing on all four walls and over the entire basement floor. The subsurface ground water is coming up into the basement. It is not surface water coming down the sidewalls. There is only one way to correct this situation…install a sump pump and foundation drainage tile.

Do these systems really work? Are they always reliable?
Do they indicate a problem home?

Great questions, next time let’s ask the house.

December 24, 2012

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.