Reasons for moisture in the basement and ways to fix it

Many people in Toronto face the problem of wet basements. Unfortunately, they often cannot understand the main reason for the presence of moisture in the basement or cannot treat it appropriately.

You will not notice this problem if you rarely use the basement or the distance from other floors is high. However, most basements are connected to different floors through utilities. So you should take this problem seriously.

Some of you use the basement as a living room or bedroom. Wet basement problems will annoy you and cause significant health problems.

If you have a wet basement, you can see mould in the carpets and under the wall coverings. If you do not fix them, you will endanger your health.

You can solve the wet basement problems, but doing it right costs money and requires the help of a professional team.

Understand the problem

The first step in solving a wet basement problem is to know where the water is coming from and what mechanisms allow it to enter the basement. You need to check for three sources of moisture:

1. Rain or Groundwater Ingress: A 1-inch rainstorm is enough to dump 1,250 gallons of water on a 2,000-square-foot roof. If the top does not have a proper slope or you have not installed a right gutter, some of this water will fall into the basement. The underground water level also increases in some seasons, which can be due to floods or seasonal conditions. The most common way to treat this problem is to use drainage tile systems around basement walls, even in sandy soils.
2. Indoor sources such as dryers, non-vented clothes dryers, bathrooms, and concrete moisture after construction: The occupants are the main reason for indoor humidity. Living in a house means using clothes dryers, toilets, and cooking that produce indoor humidity. Sometimes new concrete in a newly established building creates interior moisture. It can take months or even years for a new home to come to grips with its environment.
3. Exterior wet air that enters the basement and condenses on the cold surface: You open basements windows in the summer to let fresh air into the home. In the seasons, when the weather warms up, the cold walls of the basement and the floor condense. Many homeowners mistake these under-wall leaks for wall leaks when they are from condensation.

There are four ways that moisture enters the basement from outside the building:

1. Water flow.
2. Capillary suction. One of the methods of moisture entering the basement is the capillary suction of porous materials. In this situation, water moves up through the small holes in the base and concrete slab and up through the walls. If you see a ring of moisture at the bottom of many basement walls, know that it is the result of this phenomenon.
3. Steam release. Moisture can evaporate and move through a material. It depends on the permeability of the material and the driving force of the vapour pressure difference. If the ground around the basement is more humid, the moisture vapour moves through the concrete walls and floors into the dry basement.
4. Air movement. In hot seasons, warm air rises and creates a stack effect. This effect creates negative pressure on the basement and draws moist air in through cracks or holes in the foundation, including open pits. For this reason, the sumps must have an airtight cover.

Sometimes, due to poor construction, you face cracking and settlement of foundations. However, if the house structure and the basement are healthy but not adequately drained and waterproof, they will suffer from moisture. In many houses, the ground surface does not slope from the foundation and lacks a good gutter and downspout system. Most people do not pay attention to subsurface drainage systems or use inefficient ones. If you consult an expert team like WETFIX, you can find the right ways to treat these problems and take action to fix them.

Signs of a wet basement

After inspecting your basement, if you see any of the following signs, you are sure to have a wet basement, and you need to take immediate action to repair it:

• Water dripping from the walls
• Stagnant water on the ground
• The saturated base of concrete block walls has a ring of moisture
• Humid air in the basement
• Condensation on cold walls and floors in summer
• The smell of moisture and mould
• Deterioration of carpet or wood
• Decay of wooden headers, beams, threshold plates and columns
• Staining and blistering of the wall covering
• Efflorescence, spalling of concrete or masonry

Common causes of basement moisture problems and their solutions

Drainage tile and inefficient pit

Many old housebuilders did not install a proper subsurface drainage system because basements were not used as habitable spaces. As a result, old houses face the problem of a wet basement. The house may have a drainage system, but they have failed for various reasons, such as pipe collapse, pipe blockage with mud or tree roots, or a broken connection to the sump. A sump pit usually contains a pump designed to lift water to the surface outside the foundation wall. This pump may fail.

Solution: Contact the experienced WETFIX team and solve your sump pump problem.

Improper drainage with channels under the slab

In some houses, heating channels are installed under the basement floor slab. In this situation, the drainage system is inappropriately placed at a higher level than the canal becomes a drainage system. As a result, stagnant water inside the heating duct creates pollution and mould and endangers the health of residents.

Solution: Heating ducts placed under the basement floor must be insulated, waterproof and sloped to collection points for drainage and cleaning. You can use a drainage tile and coarse aggregate under the drainage.

Structural cracks

Columns and concrete blocks can create cracks in the structure of the house. These cracks become severe when the floor joists are not correctly connected to the foundation wall. In this case, the walls move. Places where walls meet rigid structures, such as fireplaces, also often crack. Another reason for creating cracks in the house's structure is soil settling. You can remove the water from the cracks by repairing and using drainage.

Trust the expert and skilled WETFIX team to repair cracks in the wall and structure of your home.

If your basement floor is damp or leaks and cracks in the walls, it indicates that you need basement waterproofing services. A leaking basement needs repair immediately; otherwise, it can lead to more severe problems if left untreated. We provide complete waterproofing solutions to your basement leaks or flooding problems at Wet Fix.