Will My Basement Flood?
It’s a common question that we receive quite often as bid basements. For obvious reasons people are more concerned about a basement flood now that they’re contemplating spending a substantial amount of money to finish it. There is no way for us to know with 100% certainty is your basement will flood but there are some indicators we use to make a good guess.
- Has it flooded in the past? If yes, did you fix the problem that caused the flood. Most floods are a result of poor or improper drainage around window wells. You have to address the problem. One recent client had an annual flood in there basement every spring near a downspout. We fixed the problem with 20 feet of flexible drain hose. What ever the solution is take care of it now.
- Are your window wells deep enough? The weak point for every basement is the windows and window wells. If you do get a little water down the well a couple of feet of gravel at the bottom may be enough to absorb the water before it comes into the house.
- Are your sprinklers well adjusted? Broken or poorly adjusted sprinklers can quickly fill a window well and lead to disaster. Keep and eye on this. We recently had a client who went on vacation and had a lawn service do their yard while away. They broke a sprinkler near the window well. The next night and every other night for the next two weeks the broken sprinkler would fill the window well. Slowly that water would leak into the basement through the window frame. It was a mess.
A little fore site will really help. Look for potential problems and fix them now. If your basement does not have a history of flooding and you’ve been in the home for awhile you’re probably safe. Still take the time to make sure you have good drainage and that your sprinklers are properly adjusted.