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We've been looking for a house to buy in northern NJ. In one area the agent said that moisture in a basements just goes with the territory of older homes. She said you need to have a dehumidifier and not to be concerned if the house has a sump pump. One did and I was concerned.
Another agent in a different area said she wouldn't sell a home that had a sump pump or french drain. She said it spells trouble to her.
I have a relatively new (10 year old house) and it has a french drain with two sump pumps and a dehumidifier. No mold/no problems. Smells fine and the sumps have kicked in twice (Hurricane Irene and Sandy) and my basement never flooded.
Just make sure the basement has a french drain to ensure any leakage into the basement drains around the edges to the sump pump so no water leaks onto the floor!
We've been looking for a house to buy in northern NJ. In one area the agent said that moisture in a basements just goes with the territory of older homes. She said you need to have a dehumidifier and not to be concerned if the house has a sump pump. One did and I was concerned.
Another agent in a different area said she wouldn't sell a home that had a sump pump or french drain. She said it spells trouble to her.
So who's right?
Thanks!
You'll probably get more accurate/factual information from people who know what they are talking about (e.g. contractors) if you post this in the House forum.
But off hand, in general, I'd say the 1st RE agent you spoke to is more correct.
However, a couple of things:
First, I don't think the dampness of a basement/the need for a dehumidifier, and the presence of a sump pump, are necessarily related, i.e., just because the house has a sump pump doesn't automatically mean it has a damp basement. And just because a house does not have/has no need for a sump pump, does not mean the basement is totally dry and does not need a dehumidifier. And the age of the house (whether or not it's "OLDER") doesn't really mean anything either, as far as dampness and/or need for a sump pump. For example, my last house was 50 years old, did NOT have a sump pump, never flooded once in its history, and the basement was still damp enough feeling in the summers that I had a dehumidifier going. My current house is 20 years old, DOES have a (barely ever needed to be used) sump pump, and the basement feels dry enough that I haven't needed to take the dehumidifier out of storage.
Second, from what I understand, whether or not a house needs a sump pump depends primarily on the geographic/physical location of the house, i.e., the LAND upon which the house is built. Is the water table high/shallow? So again, the age of the house (whether or not it's "OLDER") doesn't really have anything to do with it.
To add to this, I have read that some builders routinely install sump pumps as a matter of course (more true for newer homes, I think). And there are also municipalities that require, by code, homes to be built with sump pumps. (Not sure about NJ, but in other states.)
If an older house that wasn't originally built with a sump pump had one newly installed somewhere down the line, it could mean a couple of different things:
The house has experienced a flooding event and the homeowner needed to install a sump pump to guard against possible future flooding.
The house has NEVER experienced any flooding but the homeowner had some extra home improvement money squirreled away and decided to shell out for a sump pump for an added measure of security.
In summary, the mere presence of a sump pump does not equal "trouble", as per that second RE agent you spoke to. What does that even mean, that he/she "wouldn't sell a home that had a sump pump or french drain"? That seems rather odd. Isn't that shooting yourself in the foot, as far as sales go? Wouldn't that be like a car dealership saying they wouldn't sell hybrids or manual transmissions? I don't know. That doesn't make any sense to me.
We've been looking for a house to buy in northern NJ. In one area the agent said that moisture in a basements just goes with the territory of older homes. She said you need to have a dehumidifier and not to be concerned if the house has a sump pump. One did and I was concerned.
Another agent in a different area said she wouldn't sell a home that had a sump pump or french drain. She said it spells trouble to her.
So who's right?
Thanks!
Agent #1 is the winner. Moisture goes with the territory in all basements. Countermeasures include dehumidifiers, french drains, and sump pumps. If the basement is a basic dungeon and you don't plan to utilize the space, countermeasures can be minimal - just enough to keep mold out of the picture and the mechanicals dry. If you plan to finish the basement and live in it, then countermeasures should include high performance sump pumps and french drains, permanent dehumidification, and preferrably an automatic natural gas or propane fired generator to prevent a flood in the case of a power failure that disables the sump pumps during a storm.
Agent #2 sounds rather new to the business. Like yesterday.
Finally, every house could and will one day flood. 50 or 75 years of dryness means nothing to me. Enough localized rain or snow can cause enough groundwater to flood any basement. Land uses change all the time, and so does drainage. So reject any confident pronouncements that "my house has bever flooded and is dry as a bone". I would not have a basement without at least one, if not two, sump pumps. And I would not spend money finishing a basement without having a natural gas fired generator to keep the sump pumps going during a power failure. And a good sump pump is $300-$500 like a Storm Pro, not the $129 garbage in Home Depot.
We've been looking for a house to buy in northern NJ. In one area the agent said that moisture in a basements just goes with the territory of older homes. She said you need to have a dehumidifier and not to be concerned if the house has a sump pump. One did and I was concerned.
Another agent in a different area said she wouldn't sell a home that had a sump pump or french drain. She said it spells trouble to her.
So who's right?
Thanks!
Unless you literally live on the ridge of the mountains or something, pretty much every house with a basement is going to have a sump pump/drainage, and for that matter, should, IMO. I'd be expecting to want to add it if it doesn't have one.
If it barely ever runs, great. However, there's always some set of weather conditions that could happen to make the water table rise, and water will eventually get in. If it has nowhere to go and no way of escaping, you now have a flooded basement.
Your other agent must be in a place with very different soil/climate, or something. Around here, it's certainly the norm.
Dehumidifiers/needing one/damp basements in general, are not necessarily the norm in all of the area, however. That's not to say that it's necessarily an issue, but not every house in the state is going to have one of those, and it's of course good to check for why they have it.
I also completely agree with Marc on a good backup system, I'd say if there's anything of value down there, IMO. Replacing your furnace/hot water heater/electrical panel is an expensive pain. If it can be averted by having 2 working sump pumps (backup if one fails) + a backup generator to run it, I'd do it, especially with the weather from the last few years.
In my part of Northern NJ (South Orange), almost everyone has a sump pump in the basement. Basement flooding is very common around here because of underground streams and other ground water and the hilly terrain (and the hurricanes).
For backup, you might consider a water-powered sump pump. It kicks in automatically if the power goes out, so you're covered if there's a power outage when you're asleep or not home, plus you don't have the expense and storage issues of a generator.
It's possible that Agent #2 lives in an area where flooding is very unusual.
I don't think it's only older homes either. That doesn't make sense to me. We run a dehumidifier in the summer when it's really moist. On nice, dry days we open the windows when possible.
It doesn't have much to do with the age of a home. I have a dry basement in a 1960 home (the sump pump never runs unless I pour water down there)... but I "literally live on the ridge of the mountains", or what passes for them around here.
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