Weathering The Weather: Preparing Your Home For The Spring Rains
Fast fact: Did you know that the most rain that Michigan ever saw in a 24-hour period was recorded on August 31st 1914, more than 100 years ago? The rain measured at 9.78 inches in Bloomingdale, MI. That’s about 3 times the average amount of precipitation during the rainiest months of the state. Now let’s talk snow. The largest 24-hour snowfall was 32 inches recorded in Herman, MI in December of 1985 and the largest snow depth was 117 inches in Eagle Harbor recorded in January of 1948. Imagine all of that snow melting in your yard and around your home.
These are extreme situations reported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration but the truth is that rain has a potential, just in average amounts, to find its way into the home. This is often due to what is called hydrostatic pressure. This pressure is created by the weight of the water at rest. Water in the ground builds up and the higher that water is in a vertical column, the more weight that is pressed downward. Water searches for the easiest possible path to travel and that intense pressure pushes the water through the narrow seam where the walls meet the floor or through wall cracks and into the basement space. Often when people call telling us they have water in their basement but they’re not sure where it’s coming from, the seam at the base of the walls is the culprit.
Hydrostatic pressure can be minimized through some simple things like making sure the earth is graded away from the home, using downspout extensions to deposit water a safe distance from your basement or crawl space walls, and keeping gutters cleaned so that water efficiently makes it to the downspouts.
Oftentimes, even with those three tips considered, it’s just not enough to stop the flow of moisture into the basement. Homeowners often try DIY fixes along this seam but have continually found that masonry waterproofing paints are not designed for these types of cracks and caulk isn’t enough to combat that pressure. Fortunately, we have solutions that will keep the water from puddling and ruining your family possessions.
WaterGuard or DryTrak, depending upon your home’s foundation, are designed to capture water along this seam as well as gathering moisture as it drips down the walls from cracks and safely direct the moisture to a sump pump for removal from the home. These waterproofing products, once installed, go virtually unnoticed and they’re incredibly effective. If average amounts of rain are all it takes to turn your basement into a wetland area, consider one of these perimeter waterproofing systems. Then the next time a 9-inch record rainfall comes, you’ll be glad you made that choice.
