A sump pump is the heart of your basement waterproofing system. It’s the main tool used to remove the water from your basement. However, if it is not installed correctly then it can do more bad than good. Sump pits that are open and messy can cause water to leak out or make the air more humid. Humid air in a basement can cause mold and musty odors to form making the basement environment uncomfortable and unhealthy.

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There is the awful “mold scare” tactic, the gross misrepresentation of the amount and urgency of repairs, the bashing of competitors to keep homeowners from getting additional estimates. To force a quick closing  there is the very popular but extremely dishonest technique of  jacking up the price and, when the homeowner refuses the proposal, offer overly generous “discounts” (as high as 50% sometimes), “but only if you close the deal right now”.

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Basement Systems' RainChute EZ is part of a basement waterproofing system.

No doubt, downspout extensions are a great way to keep a lot of water away from the foundation of a house. Basement Systems carries two different models of downspout extensions in 3 and 4-inch sizes to address this as part of a basement waterproofing solution.

But will they keep a basement dry?

I just read a newsletter claiming that downspout extensions and a shallow french drain would solve a basement water problem. This made me nervous coming from someone who might be considered an expert because the homeowner may do these things and be lulled into a false sense of security. Now the author only claimed that the basement would be drier, but still, to the reader, this may be an endorsement that the problem is solved.

We need to quickly look at how a house is built to get to the answer. A hole is dug in the virgin hard-packed earth. The foundation of the home is built. A drain tile or french drain (a plastic pipe) system is laid around the foundation (mostly in all newer builds) to drain rain water away. The loose soil is backfilled around the foundation. Can we see that this loose soil is going to easily drain water down to the foundation? But that’s OK while the drain tile is still working, but this eventually clogs with the mud that drains down, and thus (if it originally worked), the drain tile will fail and the basement will get wet.

That’s why a basement can be dry for 2 to 20 years, and then one day, after a rain, it gets wet.

So the basement leaks and we extended the downspouts, will this solve the problem? What about all the rain water that comes down around the house? That water is not addressed by downspouts. And if there’s a wind blowing rain directly at the walls, this water runs directly down the side of the house.

Clogged french drain or drain tile can be the cause of a basement groundwater leak.

To supplement this we install a drain tile or french drain system just like the one that originally failed. Is this the correct solution? And what about if we install it not around the base of the foundation but shallowly, at only a couple feet deep. Is this going to catch all the water and drain it away? It should definitely help.

At Basement Systems, we always ask the homeowner if they want their basement dry ALL of the time. Why? Because any of these partial systems will only make a basement drier, not dry.

So, beware of “experts” who claim that extending the downspouts, regrading, or exterior french drains are the answer. Yes, you should absolutely do these things, but they rarely are the end to this problem. Again, try it, and if you have the luxury, wait and see what happens during the next rain storm… just don’t be lulled into a false sense of security and finish your basement, or place valuables on the basement floor for storage. We’ve seen too much of this, and it’s never good.

The local Vancouver Island, BC basement waterproofing Basement Systems dealer, Island Basement Systems, installed a complete basement waterproofing system in a house that won the 2007 Georgie Award for Best Renovation over $650,000.

The builder for the project was RDC Fine Homes of Whistler, BC.
Island Basement Systems installed a full-perimeter WaterGuard basement waterproofing system, Delta-MS, a TripleSafe sump pump system, a CleanSpace crawl space vapor barrier system, and an IceGuard discharge line anti-freeze device. All these items and more can be seen on the Basement Systems Web site.