Water Damage Long Island: How to Water-Proof your Basement

Most people have one of these two basement types: a completed addition to the home that feels like another room to the house, or a dank leaky space that looks like the set of a horror film. Regardless of the standards, any water damage Long Island company will stress that water-proofing your basement is essential to protecting your home’s integrity. Furthermore, if you ever do plan to turn that basement into the next modern man cave or playroom for the kids, you will need to keep the water out.

Evaluate the Basement Situation

The first thing to do is inspect the basement, and if you discover any water damage you will need to call for water damage restoration and cleanup services right away. Start be inspecting the perimeter of the home. Make sure the ground alongside your house’s foundation slopes away from it. Water damage Long Island inspectors warn that backfilled dirt packed in around the foundation generally tends to settle below the surrounding dirt—a cause for the ground to sink in and slope towards the foundation. If this is the case you can add more dirt but make sure it is six inches below the sill plate to protect the home from potential rot.

Your Gutters and Downspout

Just ask any water damage Long Island specialist how vital gutters and downspouts are to protecting basements from water damage, and they will rank them pretty high. Your gutters and downspouts play a pivotal role together in protecting your basement from water damage. The gutters must be kept clean and free from debris at all times otherwise rainwater can gather and pour down the side of the house and saturate the foundation wall that holds the basement. Make sure the downspouts are turned away from the home and extend out a good foot to ensure the ground alongside the home is kept dry.

Show Your Basement Walls Some Love

There are a few things you can do to your walls to keep moisture at bay, but keep in mind these techniques are not 100 percent water-proofing. You can use products like Drylok orXypex if you have minor leaks. But before sealing the walls you should call a water damage Long Island team to first inspect the walls in order to find the cause of the problem. When you add Drylok to walls is expands as it dries to become part of the wall itself. Xypex acts more like a waterproof bonding material on the surface. Xypex requires moisture to be present in order for its crystalline structure to come alive and acts as a waterproofing barrier. One reason why these products are not 100 percent against waterproofing is that groundwater under your basement floor or under the bottom of the walls can still cause damage and is under constant pressure. You can install a sump pump in case the floor cracks and the water leaks out.