wet basement Archives - Cities Inspection Service

October 14, 2014

The Essentials of Sump Pumps

Incorrect terminology puts a real estate agent or homeowner at high risk.

When putting a home up for sale there are many details that are disclosed, sometimes, in a mandated seller disclosure report and other times for marketing promotions. If these features are overstated or not described correctly, liability and lawsuit risks will rise. There is no greater concern in purchasing a home than a wet basement. As a MN home inspector I too often see water control systems improperly portrayed. So let’s get the vocabulary and description correct.

Sump

The basket or pit that goes into the floor; it is typically about 3’ deep. In extremely high water table situations they can be up to 6’ deep. The sump is required to have a cover that is screwed down to protect kids and pets from drowning.

Beaver system

A plastic or metal diverter that sits on top of the basement floor slab. It is about 4” high and is glued to the foundation on the top and the floor slab at the bottom. Holes are drilled into the blocks allowing them drain and the diverter channels the water to either a floor drain or sump. This is not a drain tile system. It is an inexpensive, non-invasive, low quality method of managing wet basement walls. If the diverter glue fails the basement gets wet.

Drain tile

This is either a continuous plastic pipe with holes or clay pipe with open joints. Typically the pipe goes around the entire perimeter of the foundation below the floor slab and alongside the footing. Drain tile can be installed on the interior or exterior of the foundation and the pipes terminate in the sump.

Pump

This is an electrical pump that sits in the sump often called a sump pump. There is also battery pumps used to back-up the electrical pump if the power goes out.

Why is this important?

Can a house have just a sump? Sure, but this is not a drain tiled basement. It is just a basket in the floor. Is the beaver system the same as drain tile? No the beaver system is above the basement floor and the drain tile is below. A beaver system is an inferior method of water control. Can a basement be partially drain tiled or beavered? Yes and this is more common than you would imagine. To call a basement drain tiled you are implying the entire basement and that may not be true. Can a pump be discharged into the laundry tub? No sump pumps must be drain into the city storm drain or onto the yard. There is a stiff fine if caught dumping the water into the homes plumbing system. Does having a sump pump mean the basement is drain tiled? Absolutely not.

If you don’t know what you have, don’t claim it is something it might not be. That would make you easy pickings for a lawsuit.

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

‘Pops’ Rob Leslie
Kaplan Professionals, Retired

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August 10, 2013

More About Swales: With Great Benefit Comes Great Responsibility

Are swales and culverts used often for drainage?

Yes they are! Swales are often dug along property lines to direct water to street drains. Most people aren’t aware that there is even a drain there. They don’t take any particular notice of the depression in the soil and think nothing of it, when all of the water between the houses is directed to the storm drain instead of leaving pools on their property.

Take a look at this illustration of a swale and then the photograph of 10 properties that are swaled to a single culvert! What a wonderful solution to getting water off the properties… Maybe!

What if some of the 10 property owners leave trash in their swale depression, which is washed down to the culvert anytime it rains? Is anyone in the community going to be responsible for seeing that there is no trash building up on the grid during rainfall? Trash or debris building up on the culvert grid can become a very effective plug. A pond can be formed very quickly, behind the culvert opening, in heavy rainfall, which can in turn raise the water table on the surrounding land. Hopefully the drainage designer has allowed for such a possibility and has designed the residential lots, so that a rising water table will not flood the basements of the surrounding homes or cause the sump pumps to be operating continuously.

Swales are marvelous, but they do require maintenance and supervision. You can’t allow a swale on your property to build up with debris to a point where it causes water to flow onto the neighbor’s property or perhaps in the direction of your own basement. It is simply illegal to allow water to flow off your property on to your neighbors land and I’m sure you don’t want to wake up one morning with a wet basement yourself!

We would appreciate hearing from you, if you have an opinion or a question on swales. In fact, we would like to hear from you anytime you have a comment or an idea to share on any of these blogs. Communication is a two-way street, so let us hear what is going through your mind.

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

Rob ‘Pops’ Leslie
Kaplan Professionals, Retired

January 18, 2013

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.

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.