Does New Jersey Rainwater go into my Basement?

Where does all the rainwater go?

Today I want to talk about surface water which is water that comes from rainfall. Surface water is much different than ground water, and again, much different from a high water table. Surface water comes from above, while ground water and the water table come from beneath your home.

Rain can produce a lot of water in a short period of time. Some of the rain lands on your property, the rest lands on your roof. Storms produce vast quantities of water on roofs. An average-sized ranch home that has a roof area close to 2,400 square feet will generate nearly 1,500 gallons of water during a storm that dumps 1-inch of rain. That's a tremendous amount of water to concentrate around the foundation of your home. Your gutter and downspout drainage system must be able to move the rainwater away from your house. If the water stays next to your foundation, it can result in a wet basement.

The first rule about dealing with water and your foundation is: Keep as much water away from the foundation as possible.

This water can cause leakage in basements and crawlspaces. Water is erosive. Left unchecked it can carve a path through the earth to your foundation. Once that occurs, it clears the way for more water to get to the foundation more quickly in the future. That erosion paves the way for water intrusion into the basement and the costly repairs and cleanup costs associated with a flooded basement.

Gutters and downspouts are designed to collect and remove water from the roof. Granted, gutters aren’t exactly glamorous, but they handle a critical task: routing the runoff from a very large surface—your roof—to proper drainage away from the house. Houses equipped with gutters and downspouts concentrate this water in just a few locations where the downspouts terminate near the ground. Some people think that a splash block is all that is needed at the bottom of the leader. Splash blocks, or diverters as some people call them, are of little benefit. The only thing they do is absorb some of the downward energy of the water as it rushed down the downspout. Without the splash blocks, you'd have a large hole next to your home where soil used to be.

Leaders or downspouts (with or without splash blocks) terminating against the home can put a tremendous amount of water around the foundation in a very short time. That water is going to follow the path of least resistance which often times is into the basement or crawlspace. Diverting this water from the foundation can help to protect the foundation and stave off more costly repairs such as sump pumps and French Drains.

Properly maintained gutters and downspouts extending at least 10 feet from the home can go a long way to keeping the basement dry. You should pipe roof water to the lowest spot on your property, into municipal storm water systems, or if you can afford it, into a cistern or other collection vessel so the water can be reused for gardening or other household uses.

These are preventative steps to be taken before you have water intrusion. If you follow this advice and keep as much water away from the foundation as possible you may stay dry for a long time. This is not to say that there are not times when a waterproofing company is needed. If water is penetrating the foundation and entering the basement, call a professional.

A-1 Basement Solutions gives free basement health inspections to New Jersey homeowners. Contact A-1 Basement Solutions at 908-322-1313, http://A-1Basements.com for a free in-home inspection and detailed quote.

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