WE NEED WATER. We just don’t need it in our basements or under our floors, causing dampness, mold, and rot. We may not be able to hold back the Mississippi when it floods, but we can control most of the rainwater that falls around our homes. Follow the guidelines below and you’ll stand a good chance of keeping water on the outside of your foundation.
1. Don’t build on the lowest part of the lot.
2. Seal all holes around the pipes that go through the concrete.
3. Install perforated drainpipes at the bottom of the concrete footings around the outside of the foundation (see the photo at left).
4. Coat the foundation walls with a suitable damp-proofing or waterproofing treatment. Check with builders in your area or the local building department to find out which foundation coatings are rec
ommended. Tar coatings are inexpensive but not as effective as more recently developed waterproofing treatments.
5. Compact loose fill as you backfill around the foundation, but be careful, because excessive compaction can damage masonry walls. Make sure that the finished grade (ground level) slopes away from the foundation. But remember that loose fill can settle. A finished grade that slopes away from the house may later slope toward the house shojld settling occur.
6. Use gutters and downspouts to manage high roof water runoff. Make sure you keep gutters unclogged and install downspouts to direct water away from the house.
7. Get advice from your building department. The time to protect your house from water infiltration is while you are building. Fixing a leaky basement or a damp crawl space after the house has been built can be very expensive.
