A house’s basement can serve many purposes. You can use it to store things that you no longer use. If you have some extra funds, you can even set up a kickass living area for you and your family. Unfortunately, being located at the lowest part of your home, your basement is most susceptible to water leaks and flooding. Basement flooding can cause significant financial risk.
Luckily, you can tap the services of waterproofing companies like Permadry Waterproofing Seattle to help protect your basement from leaks. However, you may not always have funds to ask for expert help. In this case, you can apply some DIY waterproofing techniques instead. Here are some easy ways you can prevent leaks in your basement:
Locate And Repair Cracks In Your Foundations
Your foundation carries most of your home’s weight. Hence, it is unsurprising that some cracks may appear over time. Repairing your foundation can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars due to its importance to your home’s integrity. You can, however, use polyurethane injections as a temporary solution for this problem.
Polyurethane injections seal cracks tightly to prevent them from growing. It also prevents water from seeping through these cracks, avoiding further erosion of your foundation. After applying the injection, make sure to consult a foundation expert to assure the safety of your home.
Remove Any Debris In Your Eavestrough
Your eavestrough or gutter helps control the flow of rainwater from your roof. It prevents rain flow from damaging your walls and digging through your lawn. It also helps direct rainwater to proper drainages.
An unfortunate drawback of eavestroughs is that they easily gather debris like leaves and branches. A clogged gutter can cause water to back up and flow to places you least want them to. Overflowing water may also slowly dig through your foundation, which in turn may cause leaks in your basement.
After clearing any debris from your eavestrough, you should then prevent future clogs by adding a filter to it. You can install or have someone install large-hole metal meshes to catch debris flowing to your gutter. Also, use larger drain pipes to reduce the possibility of leaves accumulating inside them.
Prevent Condensation In Your Water Pipes
Even without cracks, your water pipes can contribute to water leaks in your basement. When cold water flows through your water pipes, air condenses on the pipes’ surfaces. Only small amounts of moisture are produced this way. However, the scarce ventilation in your basement will prevent the water from re-evaporating. The best way for you to prevent pipe condensation is to insulate your pipes.
Inspect Your Sewers Regularly
Besides being extremely unsanitary, leaking sewers can cause the most damage in your basement. Make sure to check your sewer tanks and pipes at least once a year. If you live in a very old building, your inspections should be more common. You can also hire companies that offer high-tech sewer inspection services that can help you find invisible cracks.
Ask For Expert Help
Applying DIY preventive measures against basement leaks can save you hundreds of dollars. However, nothing beats knowing that your home is protected by expert waterproofing services. Permadry Waterproofing Seattle offers some of the best waterproofing services in the Seattle area since 1996. If you want to learn more, click here now!
