Would you buy a home with a Damp Basement? (negotiation, housing, insurance)

[otterhere]

You can have some kind of trench built around it -- I think it's called a French drain? -- that's supposed to divert water away, but that costs money. Maybe get an estimate and see if they'll pay for that. But if there's another offer, they'll probably just take that one instead.

[corpgypsy]

I would never consider the house! Currently we are residing in a leased house that had "some moisture" noted in the finished basement, when we were having the home professionally cleaned prior to move in. Fortunately for us the landlord/owner listened to our concerns and $45,000 + later, the basement was finally put back together following mold remediation and tear out and rebuild. Unfortunately for the owner, over and above the cost of that basement, there still remains the causative issues, because the water will indeed eventually return in that foundation due to the exterior problems that have yet to be resolved. Those are estimated at $85,000 or more ( driveway, terrace and grading etc) Moral of story: seeing a little bit of mold may mean a lot of hidden mold and then what is the source of the moisture.

[randomparent]

I'll also note that I would never purchase a home with a finished basement, because I want to see the concrete walls and floors. I know my basement is bone dry, because there is nowhere for moisture to hide. The room holds mechanicals, a treadmill, leftover paint cans, and three plastic containers of holiday decorations. That's it.

[Liz_7]

If there's mold on the walls there's mold IN the walls. This house sounds like a disaster. (This is coming from someone who lived in a house with a damp foundation leading to mildew, mold, air quality problems, etc.)

[Rynldsbr]

There isn't mold in the walls because the walls are old stone/concrete. Old porous concrete can seep moisture, they also can weep due to temperature change inside to outside.


Depending on where you live this may not be as bad as everyone proclaims, but it would require a little better look. We had a home on a clay hillside and water traveled on and below ground level down the hill to the drain tile around the house and then passed below the house through the drain tile and never had a water issue. On a 2,000 sf ranch home the previous owner spent $10k on the drain tile. The point being, there are answers.


If it is truly a matter of the grading outside the home, a couple truckloads of dirt and rain gutters may be all you need. You need to decide if the person giving the advice actually knows what they are talking about and if you ware willing to take the chance. If there are no other homes available and this is typical of the homes in the area, other neighbors or friends may be able to offer better advice than people from across the country who don't know the construction, ground type, or neighborhood situation.

[Silverfall]

If the price was right, I would buy a home with a damp basement and then work on the property drainage issues. It just depends on what kind of price they want. You can do regrading and french drain work yourself, but it is backbreaking work.

[Yuptag]

Houses downslope on hills are fairly common in some parts of the country.

This can be fixed with french drains (as mentioned above) and leach pits further down the hill. If they already have the wall exposed have the cover it with an epoxy. Also some of the "water" likely is condensation as warmer air hits the colder basement. A dehumidifier in the basement should dry it up nicely.

[thinkalot]

Originally Posted by randomparent

I'll also note that I would never purchase a home with a finished basement, because I want to see the concrete walls and floors. I know my basement is bone dry, because there is nowhere for moisture to hide. The room holds mechanicals, a treadmill, leftover paint cans, and three plastic containers of holiday decorations. That's it.

I know someone that had that problem. When they found out there was quite a bit of damage they knew nothing about until they removed some paneling. Expensive repair.

To another poster. I would never buy a house that did not have a dehumidifier running since day 1.

[yellowsnow]

I would never buy a house with known and easily visible water problems. And here's the deal, if you ever need to sell the house, it might be hard to find a buyer who won't care about mold and wet in the basement. And you are paying for and being taxed on a lot of square footage that you can't use.

There is a real reason why this house is cheap. But it won't be cheap for the new owner!

[sacredgrooves]

I own a waterproofing company and my answer would be no. Wet basements are typically expensive to fix (correctly), let alone repairing the potential damages/mold from long term moisture.