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Cause

Observing soil moisture changes around your foundation is possible, but what about under it? Moisture can move from outside to under your foundation through a property of soils known as suction or capillary action. Soil suction is similar to placing just a corner of a dry, compressed sponge in contact with a puddle of water. In a short time, the sponge has drawn water throughout itself and grown in volume. While a water source is present, the sponge will continue to absorb water until it is saturated. If the water source is cut-off, then water already in the sponge will distribute itself evenly, but the sponge will not reach saturation.

Water can move horizontally and vertically through the soils under your foundation in a similar manner. As clay soils draw water to themselves, they too grow in volume (swell or heave) causing your foundation to move. Drying outside your foundation reverses the process. The moist soils will lose volume (shrink) as soil moisture moves out from under your foundation, the clay will crumble and settle into the voids left by the moisture, creating voids under the footing, causing the foundation to settle. Shrinking and swelling soil motions can lead to damaging your foundation and structure.

Solution

Drainage

See Approach 2 below for Proper Drainage Solution

Rainfall Statistics

1" of RAIN = on 1 ACRE of LAND = 27,658 gallons of Water. Imagine a rainfall that dumps 10" of rain in 3 days or less! In 2008, in the Northern Virginia area (VA, MD, DC) we had two torrential downpours each of which dropped 8-13 inches of rain! Mother's Day (May 2008) and Hurricane Hannah (September 2008).

For Average Residential Property, Single Family

Total of 1" Rain on Your ¼ Acre Property = Approx. 8,408 Gallons

17.7 % (1491 gallons) of the water reaching your foundation is surface water, subject to proper grading, downspout extensions, surface obstructions such as patios, roofs, driveways, etc.

82.3% (6914 gallons) of the water reaching your foundation walls comes from below the surface through the ground!

Hydrostatic Pressure

A Simple Analogy

If we go outside to your lawn, and turn on the hose, the water doesn't run away on the surface - it soaks into the ground. Water seeks the path of least resistance. It runs downhill or to grade, meaning that all water that touches down on the Eastern side of the Appalachian Mountains will find its way to the Atlantic Ocean by way of ground water and those tributaries which transports the water. One Inch of Rain equals 6914 gallons reaching your foundation walls from below the surface through the ground!

Imagine if you will, an empty pot, a top, and your sink. First, we stop up the drain in your sink to simulate the absence or ineffectiveness of drainage around and under your home. We then put a top on the pot, simulating your roof, and we place this empty pot in your sink and turn on the faucet, simulating the rain. It doesn't matter if the water hits the top (your roof) or around the side of the pot (your lawn, your neighbor's lawn, your neighbor's neighbor and so on).

As the water continues to run (rain, rain, rain), the water starts to accumulate around the pot, eventually lifting it like a boat bobbing on the water. Why? Because another characteristic of water is that it reaches its own level - self equalizes. The water at the bottom of the pot wants to be at the same level as around the pot and it therefore lifts it up. This is what we call hydrostatic pressure.

In fact, the water on the side, wants to get into the pot. Pop a hole in the side of the pot under the water line, and the pot will fill until the level inside is the same outside. This is what happens to your basement. Create a hole or seam, which is natural to the construction process of your home, and eventually water will seep in. Pop a hole where the side meets the bottom or in the bottom, water will seep in even quicker.

Now pop that drain under your pot (or house) or drill holes around the outside of the pot, and it doesn't matter if you turn on two more faucets, the water will now drain from around the pot, or around the foundation of your home, and the water in theory will not build up because the drainage won't allow it to build up.

Please do not confuse surface water as the reason why water enters your home. If your home were waterproof, the water would not be able to enter, regardless of where it was originating. Think about that - if your home, including the walls, the floor, and where the wall meets the floor, were waterproof, the water would not be able to enter your basement.

The Virginia area is, in all intents and purposes, a swimming pool into which we sink foundations and basements. The water table is very high - rivers, streams, creeks, and lakes abound. Look around and notice, maybe for the first time, the names of your streets and communities. Rock Creek Park, Falls Church, Riverdale, Silver Spring, Great Falls, Potomac, Chesapeake; River Road, Falls Road, Cold Spring Lane - We're surrounded by water. Literally!

Go sit in a pool of water, and eventually you will start to leak. Concrete is not waterproof. Neither is your home. It may have temporarily been waterproof, but the technology to do so long term never really existed until now. This is the 21st Century where even a man of color can become President of the U.S.A. Everything is possible. It is even possible that there is a great waterproofing company out there that can apply 21st Century Technology to residential construction and waterproof a home - long term!

Solution

Drainage

See Approach 2, and Approach 5 through 8 below.

The Wet Basement "Solution"— External Drainage Iowa State University, "Building Basements in Wet Locations" March 1994 "Basements are not designed to be waterproof, only water resistant. When water in the soil is only a few inches above the basement floor, water can find openings and seep or flow into the basement. Water creates such high pressures that sealing cracks will not prevent water from leaking into the house if the soil around the house is saturated. For example, when the soil is saturated to 3 feet above the floor level, the force of the water is more than enough to lift the concrete floor slab. Obtain professional design assistance if you feel you will need a "water-proof" basement.

Subsurface drainage must be adequate to keep the water level from rising to the top of the basement floor level. Often subsurface drainage is needed at one or more of the following locations: around the house footings, and under the basement floor. All primary drainage systems near the house must be located below the finished floor height."

Understanding Moisture Sources, Hydrostatic Pressure, and Drainage

Moisture problems in existing basements and crawl spaces are very common, but are often not understood or if they are, not properly treated. Forgetting for a moment possible structural concerns, basements are connected to the rest of the house through ductwork or other openings. In addition, basements are increasingly used as finished living and bedroom spaces.

In these cases, moisture problems are not only annoying and uncomfortable, but can lead to significant health problems. Molds and mildew can grow in damp carpets and beneath floor and wall coverings - basically, where there is moisture, and where you have organic materials, like wood, and the paper on drywall, molds can proliferate.

Finishing a basement without first dealing with the moisture problems can result in making health conditions worse and lead to significant damage as well. Northern Virginia Basement water problems are solvable, but there is a cost to doing it properly.

Northern Virginia Basement Waterproofing
Alexandria, Arlington, Falls Church, Reston, Springfield

Sources of Water

To properly correct your basement water problems, it is necessary to understand and determine where the water is coming from - which mechanisms are permitting it to enter the basement. There are only three sources of water and/or moisture:

1. Exterior liquid water (as opposed to vapor) from ground water, water tables, springs, or rain.

2. Exterior vapor in the form of humid air that enters the basement and condenses on cooler surfaces.

3. Interior sources of moisture - unvented clothes dryers, humidifiers, cooking, water vapor from bathrooms, and the moisture that remains in concrete long after construction is finished and slowly dissipates.

Moisture is transferred from the outside of the building to the basement interior by four mechanisms:

1. liquid water flow

2. capillary suction

3. vapor diffusion

4. air movement

These days, problems can often be traced to poor construction. This may be evident with wall cracks and settling foundations. In many cases, although the basements and foundations can be structurally sound, they were not properly built to handle water drainage. Failure to slope the ground surface away from the foundation or lack of a good gutter and downspout system is common. Missing or nonfunctioning subsurface and foundation footing drainage systems are also found with increasing frequency as homes get older and leak for the first time.

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