Spring Rains? Waterproof Your Basement and Protect Your Home

In the NJ, DE and PA areas, the rain is starting with a drizzle...but, as anyone in these areas know, the rain falls will soon be flooding the streets...and the basement. Yes, spring has sprung in the North East United States and with it comes massive headaches and water problems for many home owners.

And, the biggest problem is, most home owners are complete unprepared. They ignore the small problems. The moisture around the window wells or the white streaks the see on the walls. They know they have a "litter water problem" but fixing it takes a back seat to more fun home improvement projects like painting the living room or getting new couches.

But, if the storms of the summer and spring taught home owners anything, it's that a few days of rain can equal tens of thousands of gallons of water in their yards, huge repair bills, and leaky, flooded basement that leave behind untold amounts of damage and mold and mildew growth.

Basement leaks that were preexisting get worse and new ones spring up. This puts so much strain on the basement walls that it has no choice other than to fail and collapse.  Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee helped water find these leaks and caused some basements to take in water. Basement waterproofing can help kill these problems and protect you from storms.

Others may have been caused by cracks that formed during the once-in-a-lifetime earthquake that rocked the Northeastern part of the United States in August.

First, you need to do a visual scan of your basement walls.

If you notice any cracking, however slight, it needs to be fixed...fast.

Cracks can occur in the walls or in the floor of your basement or crawlspace walls.

The soil outside of your home can exert an amazing amount of pressure on the walls and floor of your foundation. When you get a lot of rain or snow, as NJ, DE and PA did recently, the ground literally swells up. It can also be effected when water gets in or around the foundation, freezes and then expands. This can lead to disaster.

This in turn pushes water into the walls of your basement. Once in, they weaken the cinder blocks and cement.

These problems can really spell disaster for your foundation, even resulting in the entire foundation crumbling and falling apart!

Regardless of the cause, people need to deal with these headaches. Many contractors charge over $50,000 to fix foundation collapse! It can even be as high as 100k!

This past year, NJ and Delaware were rocked by the rain storms as was much of Pennsylvania from Harrisburg to Philadelphia and out into the eastern and western suburbs like Delaware county and Montgomery county.

Delaware's cost was really blasted by the rains, so homeowners there should strongly consider getting basement waterproofing performed.

But, no matter what part of the U.S. you live in, you need to take the precatuions to stop these cracks before they get too bad. Every area in America has their own weather issues, from monsoon rains to 5feet of snow, they all lead to crawl space and basement leaks and cracks.

Waterproofing your basement helps seal the cracks and ensure that no water gets into the walls of your basement. This can prevent major problems like mold growth and cracking in the foundation or basement floor. If you also put in proper drainage pipes, these problems will be fixed and they won't come back