Basement leak, Louisville

First, the good news:  it doesn't rain monsoon rains in Louisville very often.  The bad news:  when it does, it's usually after it has been incredibly dry for a very long time.  The result can leave hapless homeowners (with basements) feeling a little like the folks who weren't able to make it aboard with Noah.  Not much you can do once it starts to rain!  The time to prepare is now.

The fact is that basements are not waterproof unless made so by a waterproofing company.  True, when a home is first constructed (nowadays), several measures are put in place to reduce the likelihood of water intrusion in the basement.  However, over time basements develop small cracks, and if the surrounding earth becomes saturated with water, that water has a way of seeping in to your basement.

So the first step is to determine if you really even care.  If your basement is not finished, is a little water acceptable?  If it is, you're finished here and can skip the rest of the blog.  If not, you have a couple of options, from the least expensive (interior caulking of the cracks) to more expensive (exterior patches of the cracks), to the most expensive (new tile drains, sump pump addition, and sealing).  Each of these options involves varying degrees of cost, so I take you back to the first sentence:  is it really a big deal for your basement?

In 2010, Louisville had the perfect storm for basement leaks:  an incredibly dry summer following by a couple of days of deluges.  Homes that had never leaked began to leak like sieves.  Why?  Because the unusual drought caused slight shifts in the foundation that opened existing cracks (or developed previously non-existing cracks), and didn't have a chance to shift back slowly as the earth regained moisture.  Instead, the heavens opened up and the rains fell.  And the basements got wet.  And the waterproofing companies made a lot of money.

Next week:  home inspectors in Louisville and a little bit about Brian O'Rear and HomeTeam