How Falling Leaves Could Flood Your Basement

It’s officially fall, despite the almost 80 degree day yesterday, and that means I’m here with another chore for you to do. I’m the worst, right? First, I explained how you can add BrightWall panels to make your basement a nicer laundry space (and get rid of your excuse to avoid it) and now I’m guilting you into cleaning out the gutters.

It poured in Lansing yesterday evening. I was sitting in my car, foolishly waiting for a lull that just wouldn’t come, and watched as the gutters in my complex all overflowed and started just gushing water straight down to the ground rather than through the downspouts and away from the townhouses.

If you’ve dutifully climbed onto your roof - or made someone else do it - twice each year, you know that gutters get clogged. Leaves and pine needles fall and get stuck up there, and suddenly your basement is wet.

Wait, what?

Don’t worry, I’ll explain. Don’t I always?

When gutters get clogged, the aforementioned overflowing occurs, which causes water to pool around the foundation of your home rather than be discharged a few feet away by the downspouts. From here, a few things can occur:

1) The soil immediately surrounding your home goes far beyond the saturation point, meaning any excess water travels through existing cracks in your foundation (they can exist even if you can’t see them - it only takes the smallest crack to let water in) and into your basement.

Or, if you’re one of those lucky people with a pristine, water-tight foundation

2) Pressure from the oversaturated soil and standing water can cause your basement walls to bow or lean, which can cause cracks (which allow water in) and destabilize the foundation.

3) As the water searches for somewhere to go, it can displace and move soil and cause soil erosion, which can lead to foundation settlement and sinking.

Regardless of which situation occurs, you need to do something inside your house to deal with what's happening outside.

If water is your issue, we can install a perimeter drainage system like WaterGuard to funnel the water to a sump pump and an actually distant point in your yard where it won’t just filter back in.

If you’ve noticed sticking doors or windows or slanting floors, you may have foundation settlement issues, which need to be addressed immediately. The stability of your foundation is a fundamental safety issue in your home, and letting a problem go unchecked will cause it to become exponentially more dangerous and expensive.

So whether your falling leaves have revealed water issues or caused them, get out there, clean out those gutters, and call us to help stop water from coming into your basement!