Home Ownership is Just One Persons Fight Against Water

Had a nice little foundation leak during the last rain storm. Installed a drain line last fall to divert two downspouts and front walkway run off away from the house which helped a lot. Front walkway and a big retaining wall next to it ultimately need to be removed and reinstalled with proper grading and drainage. That’s going to be a huge and expensive project so for now I’m just replacing all the worn out concrete sealant and hoping for the best.

pissedatyall,

Water is patient. Water just waits. Wears down the cliff tops, the mountains. The whole of the world. Water always wins.

GiddyGap,

I get the appeal of a basement from a space perspective, but this is the exact reason why I always steer clear of any house with a basement when house shopping. Seen too many flooded basements.

Maalus,

That’s not a basement problem, that’s a location problem. Look for houses that are higher up than other houses, the water will flow down the hill and flood the people who didn’t do that.

GiddyGap,

Very often there just isn’t a “higher up.” Much easier, and especially easier on the mind, to not have a basement. At least for me.

Maalus,

So then your base floor floods

GiddyGap,

No.

Baahb,

Lol no? My base floor is above ground. Wtf you think water is attracted to houses or smth?

Toastypickle,

waterproof.com

I’ve installed this baseboard gutter system in a few basements. Doesn’t solve the problem but it prevents flooding of the floor at a much cheaper price.

gmtom,

Is this an American thing? I’ve never heard of a foundation leak before.

Trollception,

Nah it’s not just an American thing, there are in fact other countries that feature basements.

r0ertel,

I worked through college doing landscaping for new construction in the Midwest. I don’t know about all the rest of the stuff here, but we spent most of our work to put a 2’ plastic barrier all around the house. In some situations we’d put in a French drain around the house, too. Later on, I figured out that we needed to cover the gap from the backfill so that the water would at least start it’s journey moving away from the house. We’d also mound up the dirt next to the house because it would settle.

I see the new cheap “nationwide” builders now will sod right up to the house and in talking with the homeowners, they all have an active sump and worry about finishing off the basement for that one time that the sump doesn’t keep up.

Good luck with your project.

mvirts,

Mmm theres nothing like the taste of fresh natural spring water straight from the source

GBU_28,

Honestly, start saving and complete exterior earthworks. Excavate, line/enhance the foundation, and install professional drainage tech around the perimeter. Everything else is a stop gap

EccentricaGallumbits,

Id argue 90% of home ownership boils down to trying to keep outside air and water out of the house. If you can do both of those, you’re winning the battle.

Thavron,
@Thavron@lemmy.ca avatar

A big part is also getting the inside water out.

card797,

I must cool the inside air or else I’m still outside.

Num10ck,

but you also need to exchange the air inside often, so you need ventilation too.

ikidd,
@ikidd@lemmy.world avatar

Expensive is digging out foundations to put in weeping tile and a sump.

I swear, you could have a house on top of the biggest rock in the Atacama Desert, and water would still find a way to get into the basement.

card797, (edited )

In Louisiana we just don’t have basements. Too wet.

nilloc,

But you guys have to find a way to keep water out of the second floor.

card797,

Keep an axe in your attic in case you must escape upwards.

Dkarma,

Time to try sumpin’ new

InEnduringGrowStrong,
@InEnduringGrowStrong@sh.itjust.works avatar

Water will find a way.
We had the whole foundation drain replaced and urethane sprayed the whole thing.
That was expensive as fuck, but no regrets.
The dehumidifier barely has to run in the basement now too.
Still, 20k was a lot of money to keep water out.

jubilationtcornpone,

Our house was built by idiots so it doesn’t have any foundation drainage that I know of and the grading is all wrong. Well, lots of things are wrong, but most of them don’t flood the basement when it rains.🤷‍♂️

NegativeLookBehind,
@NegativeLookBehind@lemmy.world avatar

Do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior, Flex Seal? You can make a boat with it and float around in your basement!

Madison420,

You don’t really want water holding inside of the breeze lock, you want it to drain and dry out or the brick will rot inside to out and instead of a pinhole you have a bowling ball, it’ll just take longer to happen.

NegativeLookBehind,
@NegativeLookBehind@lemmy.world avatar

K, thanks

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