Water Seeping Into Basement After Heavy Rain

Block walls seeping is especially common in basement walls or walls at least partially underground.

Water seeping into basement after heavy rain.

The excess water drips into your basement and fills it up. Check for cracks in the foundation walls. During times of heavy rain the discharge of water from your gutters or in extreme cases from the rain itself will cause the soil immediately around your home to expand. Water trapped in the soil around the walls puts pressure on the mortar between blocks and gradually works its way through.

The drylok on the inside is rarely a solution and only blocks some of the water. It is not a vapor barrier. The concrete slowly absorbs water and eventually become saturated to the point where there is no more room left for that water to occupy. It s common for the soil alongside your house to settle over time creating a moat that collects runoff and directs it down your foundation wall and into the basement.

Review the walls where the water enters the basement. Determine if the water is along a single wall entirely. How to stop water seepage in your basement step 1. If enough water builds up in the cracked mortar it can begin to seep through the wall.

You might be asking why is water coming up through my basement floor after heavy rain. Where you see the water entering can be miles away from where it comes through the outside as once inside the block. Water is forced to the basement by 2 different forms of pressure. This presses against the walls of your basement leading to cracks in the foundation that water can seep through.

Both hydrostatic and lateral pressure push moisture and water leaks into basement walls and floors. Subsurface groundwater under hydrostatic pressure is a serious concern and one that cannot be ignored. Meanwhile the water absorbed by the soil that surrounds your foundation causes lateral pressure. This usually happens during a heavy rain as the soil saturates the rainwater.

Surprisingly enough the most common causes of basement leaks in heavy rain are from the soil around the home s foundation and not the roof. Water seepage in basement after heavy rain 1. Apply a construction grade epoxy during the months walls remain dry. The excess water goes to your basement.

The foundation around your home functions in much the same way. That is where basement seepage after heavy rain comes in. If your basement leaks after heavy rains or after snow melts making sure water is diverted away from your foundation may solve the problem. The truth is if water is coming from the floor up as opposed to dripping down walls then it is probably due to a subsurface problem.