Surface Water

There are common ways water seeps into a basement.

• Surface water runs down foundation walls.
• Saturated soil then forces the groundwater to be pushed through porous concrete and cracks by hydrostatic pressure.
• Storm sewers can also back up during heavy rains causing a leaky basement.

Clogged gutters are a prime source of surface water. Keeping gutters free of debris is important maintenance for homeowners to prevent the buildup of surface water. If the gutters are clean, perhaps there are not enough downspouts on the house’s guttering system to handle a heavy rain. Check during a heavy rainstorm and see if the gutters are overflowing. If they are, another downspout may ease the amount of water collecting around your foundation. Extending the downspouts away from the house by at least 10 feet will minimize the surface water. 10 feet is minimum distance required to discharge water coming off your roof.

Paved areas that slope towards the house will funnel surface water towards your foundation. Sometimes paving settles over time due to aging or improper installation. It is important to make sure all paved areas slopes away from the home.

The ground around the home should also slope away from the foundation. 10 feet is the recommended distance the water should be moved away from the foundation. If the ground has any depressions within those 10 feet, they should be filled with dirt so the water drains away from the house. Using a clay rich soil in the depressions will repel water better than sand based soil, which will absorb the moisture into the ground rather than repel it.

One other reason surface water can build up is irrigation systems that discharge too much water next to the house. The irrigation system should include a rainstat that turns the system off when the ground is saturated