Saving Your Foundation Before it’s Too Late

PRESERVING THE VALUE OF YOUR HOME

Once you have a home or other property you need to do some simple tasks to keep the value up. Probably the most overlooked and most important is the diversion of water away from your foundation. With a few exceptions most areas of the United States have significant levels of precipitation in the form of rain and or snow. Many homeowners take for granted that the home will “stand the test of time” when dealing with rainfall and or snow. The problems that can be created by water are often overlooked because the generally take a longtime to take their toll on a home. It can often take decades for a problem to surface, but often in a few years problems can begin. A home with foundation problems caused by water can be devalued anywhere from 15-25%! Even if your home doesn’t have a basement the damage that can be caused to a slab foundation can be just as problematic. This is one problem that can generally be averted without a lot of expenditure. I recently helped a Buyer secure a home with an offer that was 40% less than similar homes in the area. The owner had apparently fought water problems for years and had never taken the steps to prevent the problem. I will list the problems and offer the solutions.

One of the most simple fixes to foundation problems and the leaks that ensue is to add gutters to a home. A wise-old home inspector once told me that on a 2,000 square foot home with a 1 inch rain per hour 1,000 gallons of water are running off the roof per minute! If you don’t have gutters and downspouts that properly push the water away from the home you will eventually have a problem. Homeowners often have gutters but they don’t have the donwspout going away from the home. During a heavy rainfall the gutters collect the water and distribute the water right to one area of the foundation. With the one inch rain mentioned earlier imagine all of that rain water going to one area of the foundation. The water puts an extreme amount of presure on the foundation and rain after rain it eventually wears away the foundation or will put enough pressure on it to crack the walls. In cold climates this pressure can be more intense with the freezing and expansion of water. A homes downspouts should be directed to at least five feet away from the home.

The grading around the home should also be sloped away from the home. You can put a level on the ground and see if the grading is going away from the home. The pitch should be a minimum of 1 inch per foot going away from the home. You will notice the longer a home sits after construction the more this pitch will deteriorate. Often you will see homes that have a negative pitch where the water is actually forced toward the home due to the grading. The home that my buyer has purchased at a bargain had a number of problems going against it. First the gutters that were on the home had only been recently installed. The property was on the lower part of a hill. The home next to it had the gutters spewing water in an area that could only run toward the property. The concreted driveway was slanted toward the home and butted right up against it leaving nowhere for the water to go but agains t the foundation. Finally the basement windows did not have deep window wells around them and they were normal windows. I would suggest using the “block” windows that have come back into style recently. They offer a better seal to keep water out. Dealing with window wells is another way to combat water intrusion. Often duing a heavy rain the wells will fill up above the window and eventually the window will allow water in. The well should be several inches to a couple feet lower than the window itself. It should be kept clean of all debris, and the bottom should be filled with gravel to allow the water to drain into the ground. In dealing with the concrete driveway in this case the driveway will be taken out, and two major changes will occur. The driveway will be pitched slightly away from the home. Water will be diverted away instead of toward the home. Next a small space of 16 inches will be kept between the home and the driveway. This way any water that gets into this area will be able to drain into the ground instead of going right to the foundation. He Buyer obviously can’t change the fact that his home is on the bottom of a hill but he can create a berm around the home to keep water away from the home. Slight changes in his landscaping will keep the water away from the home. All of these changes should keep his basement free of water.

There are a few fixes for water intrusion that can happen inside the home such as a “Beaver-dam system” that funnels the water into a drain. These fixes often work but can be more costly than doing the necessary grading on the exterior of the home, and working with or adding gutters to the home.

If you are looking to purchase a home and are concerned about water intrusion here are a few hints to help you spot a problem. Use your nose first! You can often smell the problem. These smells can be masked so take your car keys with you. Get on your hands and knees and push a key against the base of the wall or any wood that is in the lowest level of the building. If it sinks in it is rotten or deteriorated because of water. In basements that are not finished look for spotting on the walls and new paint. If the room is newly painted there is a pretty good chance that there was a water problem at one time. Look at the bottom of appliances like the washer and dryer or the furnace. If you see rust there is probably a water problem. Sellers are suppossed to disclose any issues with leaky basements and roofs but not all sellers are honest, and even more don’t think they should mention any problems in a disclosure because it will hurt their chances of selling. Finally, do an inspection of the outside. Does the grade go toward the building or away? Is it on a hill or at the bottom of one? Is there a lot of concrete built up right to the foundation of the home like a driveway, patio or sidewalks? Bring in an inspector if you like the home enough to make an offer. The small fee they charge is definitely worth the protection they provide on your huge purchase.

Technorati Tags: