During heavy thunderstorms or long periods of rain, do you notice standing water around your house or areas of pooling against your foundation? If so, this is a serious issue that can not only cause short-term problems like mosquitoes and mold, that water can seep into your basement or crawl space and cause foundation damage, flooding, and property damage.
To help stop damage before it starts, our crawl space and basement waterproofing company in Raleigh is sharing some solutions that will minimize moisture problems around your foundation.
Fixing Your Gutters and Downspouts
One of the simplest ways to keep water away from your foundation is by starting at your gutters. If they are clogged with leaves and debris, the water will overflow over the edges and down to your foundation rather than be directed to the downspouts. Cleaning out your gutters once per season should keep water flowing freely from your roof and down away from your house.
Once water is coming through the downspouts, make sure that water is emptying far out from your home, at least eight feet from your foundation. You can pick up the corrugated, flexible plastic downspout extenders from any home improvement store for just a few dollars. If you’re concerned with aesthetics, you can connect the extender, dig a trench directed away from your home, and lay the extender pipe in the trench and backfill around it.
Grading Your Yard
If the area of your yard around your foundation is flat, consider grading the yard slightly so water will flow down and away from your foundation. A general guideline is to make sure the soil around your house slopes downward about four to six inches over the ten feet of space around your foundation. Adding clay soil or another type of dense soil around your foundation and sloping it downward in a gentle, gradual grade will allow water to runoff away from your home.
It’s important to note that you don’t want any dirt or soil to be any closer than six inches from your siding. This gap minimizes the risk of insects, like termites and carpenter ants, from boring into the home.
French Drain Installation
For minor moisture problems around your foundation, a French drain may be a good option. Simply put, a French drain is a trench or ditch that is dug around the perimeter of your foundation, a perforated pipe is laid into it, then gravel is poured over top of the pipe. Water filters through the gravel, into the pipe, and the pipe carries the water away from your home.
Foundation Waterproofing
If you have problems with moisture coming into your basement or standing under your home within the crawl space, you may need to take more effective measures. While French drains and grading are good for small amounts of pooling, when the ground becomes overly saturated, water migrates under the drains and can still infiltrate the home.
Basement and crawl space waterproofing may be the ideal solutions to keep your home dry and free of mold, rot, and foundation issues. Interior drainage collects water from inside the basement or crawl space and moves it out immediately. First a drainage trench is dug around the interior as moisture weep holes are drilled through the interior of the base block. A drainage pipe is installed in the trench, and, like a French drain, gravel is placed over top. Then a gravity discharge or sump pump system removes water out of the space where the water collected.
Schedule a Consultation for Foundation Waterproofing in Raleigh
If you’re concerned about standing water around your home, we can help. We have an experienced, certified team of waterproofing technicians who work with homeowners around the Raleigh area, transforming damp basements and flooded crawl spaces into dry, cleaner environments. Call us today at 919-847-7072. You can also fill out our online form to learn more about the benefits of our crawl space and basement services and schedule your estimate today!