It happens. One day you have dreams of building a living room, a game room or maybe even that “man cave” in your dry basement and the next, those dreams become a nightmare and your basement is so deep with water that you could set sail in search of Moby Dick.
Basements flood every day. There are many causes of basement flooding, such as:
Heavy rainfall causing sewers to overflow
An overburdened septic system or one that hasn’t been cleaned recently
Basement windows that may be leaky or have no covers
House is built on a hill that slopes toward the house
Plumbing problems
Natural disasters
Irrigations system leaks
But the leading cause by far is improper roof water drainage because a home has either no gutters or damaged, clogged or poorly installed ones. Having leaky gutters or no gutters causes water to flow straight down to the ground where it leaks into your foundation and pools there. The dirt around the foundation becomes saturated and that heavy, water-filled soil puts tremendous pressure on the foundation walls. With this constant pressure, they begin to push inward and cracks form. If you consider that an average 2,000 square foot roof can produce almost 1250 gallons of water during just an inch of rainfall, the ground around the home can become highly saturated during a single storm. When the water finally does drain away from the foundation, it can cause air pockets which can cause you house to settle and cause more cracks.
According to Mr. Rooter, the cost to repair a 2,000 square foot home that has only 3 inches of water in the basement would be $22,590 and 2 feet of water would cost $62,880 which includes lost personal items as well as repairing/replacing the furnace, electrical and plumbing costs, doors, insulation, etc. Of course, it’s impossible to recover the worth of any sentimental items you may be storing down there.
The best way to guard against basement flooding is to have gutters installed by a professional. They will not only make sure that your gutters are installed properly and leak free, but they will also determine the best route for the water to take and install downspouts that will direct the water sufficiently away from your foundation.
If you already have gutters, it’s important to have them checked regularly for any leaks or debris that may be clogging them. Winter brings ice and debris that cause damage and leaks so the perfect time to do this is after winter, before those April showers arrive. You may also want to consider having gutter guards installed which can help keep leaves and debris from collecting in your gutters in the first place.
At GutterPros, our professional technicians can come to your home and do a free gutter inspection or installation estimate. Call us today at (314) 656-7195 and we can help you keep your basement dry so you can go down there to read about a sea captain instead of needing one!