What Should I Do If I Have a Leaking Basement?

Basement Leak Repair

A leaking basement wall or a leaking basement in general can occur from a multitude of sources. Read on for Abarent’s tips on how to troubleshoot the problem, and how to get help.

In order to begin diagnosing the problem, have a look at where the water appears to be coming from in your leaking basement.  If the drywall is wet and damaged, have it cut out of the way and removed.  Exposing areas can sometimes be very helpful in determining the true origin of your basement water seepage issue.

Here are some typical causes:

Basement Plumbing leaking: Something as simple as a leaking drain line or water supply line can lead to a puddle on the floor.

Basement Window leaking: Wind blown rain can often push moisture in around the edges or track of a window.

Window well not draining: Debris may have plugged up a window well drain or there may be no drain existing.  Is there a water line on your window?

Basement foundation wall crack: This may be something that you don’t know the answer to. At Abarent, our trained eyes can often spot symptoms that indicate the presence of foundation cracks that are contributing to your leaky basement.  If drywall is wet however, cut it out of the way, so we can all see what is behind it.

Need for Weeping tile repair: Many houses built prior to 1958 do not have weeping tile and some houses that have existing weeping tile may have issues with that weeping tile.  Our experienced estimators will go through a checklist of symptoms to try and determine what your issue is and provide you with a solution.  It is much like being a detective of sorts.

Sump pump back up or Backwater valve problems: If your house has existing weeping tile, it needs to drain somewhere.  Your house would either have a sump pit connection or weeping tile may be connected to the sewer through a Backflow valve.  A pump failure or pipe blockage may lead to foundation seepage and a wet basement.

If you have a leaky basement, contact us asap. We respond very quickly.

To save parties time, there are several things you can do to help us diagnosis your foundation problem.

• Try and locate the origin of the basement leak
• Cut wet drywall out and remove soggy insulation
• Take note of when you notice the basement seepage issue and current weather (raining or not)
• Try and be informed on the age of your house and when it was built

Be sure to click on our handy check list to help you when interviewing contractors for your foundation repair project.  We look forward to helping you.