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Whats the best solution for this? This has been happening for years and it's getting worse. I noticed some cracks in the driveway which brings in a lot of water.
I'm thinking of calling up a company to help with this. How much should I be prepared to pay?
How is your basement underneath your driveway, or am I misinterpreting something?
Every time it rains? I presume your basement is unfinished, just concrete all around. Otherwise I’d be very concerned for your health living there (mold/bacteria). Even still, I’d be hosing down that concrete with a diluted mix of bleach ASAP.
The summer in our area has been a rainy one. Not overly so but have not had to water lawn this summer at all. Maybe you have been getting more rain than usual and the ground is super saturated. The best way to not get water in basement is to have gutters with down spouts that have long extensions that take water away from house 6 feet at least, best to be farther than that. Also make sure the ground outside house drains water away and doesn't look near house.
Whats the best solution for this? This has been happening for years and it's getting worse. I noticed some cracks in the driveway which brings in a lot of water.
I'm thinking of calling up a company to help with this. How much should I be prepared to pay?
Let's start with- where's the house located? And how old is it?
Since you mentioned the drive, I'll assume that the grade of the drive is toward the house. Drives that have grade toward a house should be pitched to one side or the other to direct the water away from the house/garage. And from that pitched low area the drive should actually go slightly back up hill.
Age of the house can certainly be a determining factor for the condition of some systems that are employed to keep water away from the foundation. What type of foundation do you have- is it block wall, or poured wall? Is there a walkout (daylight) area of the basement?
Do you know if you have a sump pump? Are there gutters and downspouts? Are they piped away from the house? Is the drive against the house- like an alley way to a rear parking area/garage? Some pics would probably help a whole lot!
I can keep going with even more questions, but if you're going to call a local company to address your problems I'm sure all the things I asked will be addressed during their consult.
Check downspouts and gutters and make sure they empty far away from the house.
Slope dirt down from your house so no water is settling against the house, keep it moving out into the yard.
Paint basement walls & floor with waterproofing paint.
We had water pooling on the patio, no where to run off, blocked by the grass in heavy rains. I dug out a small section of grass next to the patio, laid flat rocks in that spot, now the water flows there and out into the yard.
I had to install a French drain around the foundation and run 100 feet of 6” pvc across my neighbor’s back yard to get rid of all the water. The sump in the crawl space is now gravity fed. I think I’ve heard the sump pump in it run once in the last 8 years and you could have paddled a kayak on my lawn that day. It’s a high water table. My next door neighbor has basement flooding issues if the electricity goes out and she doesn’t run her backup generator.
Most houses, it’s a matter of grading to keep the surface water away from the foundation and making sure the downspouts are directed well away from the house.
As another poster has mentioned, there are numerous reasons as to why your basement is taking on water and no one here can determine the cause or recommend a fix without a thorough site inspection by a knowledgeable individual.
Unless you just want to hear other posters stories regaling their specific issues?
What do you mean by "flooded"? How much water gets in your basement? Does the floor just get wet in a few areas or does it actually get deep?
Where is the water coming in? You'll usually see it coming in at the base of the walls (which could mean that you need to change the outside grade, or direct downspouts away from the house)...or it could be coming up through a drain. There's really not enough information in your post.
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