5 Tips To Safely Renovating A Damp Or Wet Basement

  • Tip #1: Ask yourself how wet is my basement? Is your basement damp, stuffy, or humid…. Is there a lake in my basement? Regardless of how wet your basement could be it is always good to get consulting, to understand your options. Whether you need a sump pump or not there are many methods for keeping water from intruding into your basement.
  • Tip #2: Ask yourself how frequently is water showing up and is it staying? As concrete is very porous material water likes to pass through very easily so your problem may be because the water table around your home is so high that the easiest path of travel for water is your basement.
  • Tip #3: Ask yourself how long has the water been in the basement? This is a very important question to ask because in most cases if the water has sat in the basement for an extended period of time there could be mold growth.
  • Tip #4: Dry It Up. If you have a damp or wet basement, you have to fix it before you start any finishing work. The good news is that most water problems can be remedied by two measures: grading the soil to slope away from the foundation and adding or repairing gutters and downspouts. If these steps don’t work, you’ll have to take more extreme measures which we are happy to assess and review. Eliminating water problems is critical to prevent a moldy and ruined finished basement.

  • Tip #5: A calcium chloride test. In a calcium chloride test, which is usually conducted in three locations for every 1000 square feet of flooring, you’ll place carefully weighed calcium hydroxide into a container, which is covered by a plastic seal. After 72 hours, you can weigh the container again. Any extra weight in the container is due to water evaporation, usually from a concrete basement floor.

To learn more or to join our BREATHE HEALTHY Initiative, visit baxtergroupinc.com.  Request a copy of our BREATHE HEALTHY ebook.

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