Indiana Foundation Service

Unless you love the idea of a basement swimming pool, having a leaky basement isn’t fun or healthy. There are, of course, the obvious things; the dampness and musty smell. But did you know wet basements or crawlspaces harbor more insidious things such as mold, mildew, foundation deterioration and varmint infestation? Do I have your attention now?

The folks at Indiana Foundation want you to know that you don’t have to suffer with an imperfect and unhealthy underbelly to your home. And, believe it or not, the fix might just be easier and less expensive than you might think.

Crawlspaces

If you have a crawlspace under your home, having to venture into it can be akin to being an actor in a horror movie. You just don’t know what’s living down there. Left unprotected, your crawlspace may not only be home to an assortment of wild things, but it may also be quietly polluting your home with mold forming within the moisture-laden area. Mold may be naturally occurring, but it can be dangerous to live with day-to-day. Anyone with allergies can attest to the breathing issues, the sneezing or constant stuffy nose that is pervasive in a home with mold. For someone who has a compromised immune system, mold can be especially dangerous.

Moisture can also have the added danger of damaging the structural integrity of your home. Nothing destroys wood like added water. If your floor joists and other structural elements are exposed to moisture on a long-term basis, you could have a costly repair on your hands.

A simple solution is to encapsulate your crawlspace, eliminating the wetness causing the mold issues and structural damage and preventing a new litter of skunks from being born under your home … again. Encapsulation also offers another bonus – energy savings. You might never have thought about it, but your high-cost heating and cooling can be sucked down through your floors into the crawlspace, wasting energy that could be better used in the living areas, or not expended at all. Encapsulation stops the energy leakage from happening, and it isn’t unusual to see energy savings of up to 35 percent!

Basements

Your basement is uniquely vulnerable to the ravages of heat, cold, pressure and moisture. Over time, a basement prone to wetness can affect those living in the home the same way an open crawlspace can. Health issues aside, a leaky basement can be just plain frustrating, especially if you’ve had it “fixed” and the problem resurfaces.

Basement leaks can be caused by any number of factors. Identifying and diagnosing the problem correctly is why you want to hire a seasoned and experienced waterproofing company instead of trying to do it yourself – and possibly making the problem worse.

Fixing the problem may incorporate a number of solutions including a:

• Dehumidifier:  to dry the basement and keep it that way – can be a separate unit or incorporated into the Sump Pump.
• Sump Pump:  placed in a pit in the lowest corner of your basement, the sump pump collects unwanted moisture and sends it outside of your home usually to a storm drain system or dry well.
• Water Drainage System: installed around the perimeter of your basement, this system wicks water away from the walls and toward the sump pump.

Every basement is susceptible to shifting due to the natural movement of the earth it’s buried in. Other factors can also contribute to shifting, such as ground blasting at a nearby construction site. You may not notice anything amiss until doors stop closing easily, the floors begin to feel uneven, cracks appear in your walls or nails begin “popping” through the plaster or paint on your walls.

A drastic solution to this problem is to rebuild the offending foundation walls. However, this is an expensive and usually unnecessary step. Anchors or Push Piers can be used to reinforce and stabilize a shifting foundation. The decision of which to use is dependent upon the extent of the damage and the any additional anticipated movement. Both solutions can offer homeowners peace of mind by knowing that their home is not going to slide out from underneath them.

The moral of this story is, you don’t have to live with basement or crawlspace issues! For your health and the health of your house, hire a professional to eliminate any problems quickly and efficiently.