Posted on: 12-02-09 11:14:32
Yesterday's rain.............toronto flooded and so did our basement 
) ........... our basement has water ..........not the whole basement but a section has water stored .......dont know where it came through, not ceiling, not cracks in floor, all boxes in basement with stuff insisde are wet....cuold it be going in the plinth too ?
we had home inspection done but ....what needs to be done next ? any contacts ? Thanks.
Quote:Home inspection usually cannot detect problems like this.
Originally posted by Aashu
Yesterday's rain.............toronto flooded and so did our basement
we had home inspection done but ....what needs to be done next ? any contacts ? Thanks.
It could be a variety of things.
First of all, is your basement finished or unfinished?
How old is the house?
What kind of drainage system does it have?
What's the grading of your lot like - does all the water flow towards your lot?
Secondly, have you suffered damage and will your insurance cover it?
As for the water, it could be many different things - there could be thin cracks in the concrete floor, there could be problems with the foundation, esp. if it's an old house, there could be issues with grading, especially over a period of time when the building and ground settles.
Also, if there is a lot of water underneath, the concrete could be absorbing the water and then breathe it out once it's saturated.
Concrete is like spunge, it will absorb water as long as it can, and then start breathing it out.
Do you have a sump pump?
Is it working properly?
What about your evestrough and the downsprouts?
Are they clogged by any chance?
Have you checked if they are working properly?
Try to get the water coming out of your sump pump (if you have one) and the downsprouts as far away from the house as possible by using downsprout extensions.
Following are some links -
http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/maho/em/em_001.cfm
http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/maho/gemare/gemare_002.cfm
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"Mah deah, there is much more money to be made in the destruction of civilization than in building it up."
-- Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind"
Hi Patrick : Sorry, i do not know too much as we just moved in recently and never had a house b4 so in learning phase .....
basement is Partly finsihed, dry walls are done. house is 7 yrs old. I dont know what all u asked but will find out. Thanks for info.
Sump pump is rather easy to find - if you have it, you can't miss it.
It is usually in a corner of your basement.
There will be a pit with a cover on it and a small motor pump installed over the pit.
There would be a pipe from the pit ejecting water into your backyard or side of the house.
You can't miss it.
Water from around the foundations of your house collects through weeping tile (installed underground) into the sump pit and then it is pumped out.
Walk around your house and see if there are pools of water collecting anywhere near the exterior walls.
Talk to your neighbors and see if they've had similar problems before.
It's possible that the entire street or neighborhood has that problem.
Also depends on where you live and what kind of soil the houses were built on.
Finding source of water leakage is somewhat like playing detective Sherlock Holmes.
Good luck.
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"Mah deah, there is much more money to be made in the destruction of civilization than in building it up."
-- Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind"
No, we do not have a Sump pump.
The house inspector came to our house and checked with his some moisture testing tool and said there is no moisture in walls. His guess was to adjust some slope outdoors or the other rare possibility is it is coming from under the floor. But he suggested not to spend on repairs, he said does not mean everytime it rains, it will leak.
He came second time to our house for our concerns which is nice. Do home inspectors come back to the house for some of our issues after they have inspected once and are paid ?
Quote:It is not easy to adjust the slope permanently.
Originally posted by Aashu
The house inspector came to our house and checked with his some moisture testing tool and said there is no moisture in walls. His guess was to adjust some slope outdoors or the other rare possibility is it is coming from under the floor. But he suggested not to spend on repairs, he said does not mean everytime it rains, it will leak.
You can get some dirt or top soil, but it will be washed away next rains.
Check whether the slope is towards your house or away from it.
I'm assuming it is towards your house and all the water from the backyard and your back neighbours houses flow towards your house and onwards to the street drains.
If that's the case, you need to ensure that flowing water gets to the street drains as fast as possible.
You can dig up the earth in the path that water flows through and replace it with concrete slabs.
Put waterproof landscaping cloth underneath.
Pack them in tight so that water will flow over it into the drains.
But this can be done only during the spring, not now.
So you have to wait another couple of months.
The other thing to do is ensure your evestroughs are clear of any debris and water is flowing down properly.
Also extend your downsprouts towards the street drains so that water gets away from your foundations as fast as possible.
Since you don't have a sump pump it is very important to re-direct water.
Thirdly, inspect the floor of the basement for any hairline cracks.
Also the walls.
Fill any suspected cracks with hydraulic cement.
All of this shouldn't cost more than $40.
If you decide to put concrete paving stones in the sides of your house, that will cost a bit more in time and $$ but might be well worth it.
All of this might work assuming there are no structural or foundation issues with your construction.
Sometimes the grading that the builder does is not appropriate and can be disadvantageous to some houses and advantageous to others.
These things are not easy to fix.
Also if the soil over which the homes have been built are clay (which is common in the GTA area), then it retains water compounding the problem.
Again, nothing you can do about it.
Quote:Since you have recently got the inspection done, he might have agreed to come.
He came second time to our house for our concerns which is nice. Do home inspectors come back to the house for some of our issues after they have inspected once and are paid ?
I'm sure they have some warranty period or so.
Normally inspectors will not come out again after some time has passed.
You will have to pay for it again.
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"Mah deah, there is much more money to be made in the destruction of civilization than in building it up."
-- Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind"
Thanks Patrick for detailed info.
