Does This Home Have A Dry Basement?
Does This Home Have A Dry Basement?
Before you purchase that new house you should make sure your new home is going to have a dry basement after we get a big thunderstorm with heavy or after spring snowmelt. Each year hundreds of homes are sold to unsuspecting buyers who will find out the hard way when they discover a wet basement at some point after closing on their new dream home. It could be the day after the closing or later but these problem houses are being sold in the Minneapolis and St Paul neighborhoods.
One thing you can do to reduce your chances of buying one of these homes is to do some research by looking around the basement and outside of the home. You will want to start by going downstairs and inspect some area down there.
First, take a look at the walls, corners are some of the worst areas, see if they are bare concrete or covered by drywall or plaster. Is there a musty odor? Are the walls discolored in any way? Sheetrock or plaster may be yellow or brown towards the bottom of the wall or have black mold in dots and blobs. The baseboard may have some white streaking. Bare concrete walls may have a white powdery substance or a crusty shell from years of minerals building up after the water has evaporated. Sometimes you can see visible cracks or holes when the walls are bare concrete also. The laundry room is a good place to start as it is usually unfinished.
While you're in the basement, look to see if you can locate a sump basket on the floor. That's covering the sump pump if the home has one. If the home you are looking at is older and it has a sump pump system it more than likely has had water in at one time or another as these systems were not often installed during the building process years ago.
Now go outside. Look around the houses foundation area, the first 6 feet that leads up to the houses foundation walls, it may be covered in landscape material like rock or mulch. The soil around the house should slope away from the foundation walls. Inspect paved areas that but up to the house such as sidewalks, patios, and driveways. See if they are cracked or settled and sloping the wrong way. Did anyone put fresh caulking between the home and the sidewalk; it typically is poorly done and looks horrible.
AAA Reick's Landscaping and Waterproofing L.L.C. AAA Reick's is a local, family-owned company for over 30 years. They are licensed, bonded and insured. They deal with these kinds of basement problems using the right techniques and products. Solving these drainage issues is not hard if you hire the right contractor for the job.
Remember, a home is not a bad home if it has a wet basement, it just needs the right help and it can be that house you've been dreaming of. Make a commitment now to call AAA Reick's and get written proposal and make your hopes and dreams come true.
Look Below At Some Of Our Pictures From Recent Projects.
CALL RIGHT NOW and we can get you started on a dry basement TODAY.
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