Water infiltration is the biggest cause of foundation failures, but its sources widely vary. The result of multiple factors that converge over time, like leaks that can take years to appear and if you can see water inside your home, that means significant damage to your envelope is likely to be attained.

When water appears inside your property, it had to go through a lot of materials to get there.

Repairing a damaged foundation becomes very expensive, very quickly so it is important to make the repairs quickly, while taking the appropriate measures.

There are several reasons why water infiltrations occur, so if you notice the following problems on your walls or on the floor of your basement, you definitely have a problem;

– Excessive levels of ambient humidity

– Moisture signs on walls, excessive condensation on windows and piping

– Water accumulation on floors

– Bad odors and smoke or foam

– Efflorescence and chipping of concrete

– Formation of black spots and molds

And the most common reason for these infiltrations:

– Poor soil drainage, leakage of rainwater into the basement

Rainwater leakage below ground level is a most severe subsoil moisture problem that occurs when water flows into the floors of your basement, through joints between floors and walls below ground level during or after the rains.

Solutions:

Fixing drainage problems around your home is a relatively inexpensive, and it often boils down to two major problems:

1) how rainwater is handled and

2) the ranking or slope of your property.

Gutters are an important part of the drainage system around your home. If yours is non-existent, in bad condition or poorly placed on your home, they could cause problems and put your property at high risk for water damage.

Gutters must be installed properly so that they take the water coming out of your roof and channel it away from your home and its foundation.

It’s important to keep them clean to prevent clogging of debris. This procedure should be part of the maintenance program of each owner.