Why is my basement floor wet?.....

[mariolatry]

...and what can I do about it?

We have a finished basement. It's not super fancy, just some cheap low-pile carpeting and 70s-style paneled walls. It is currently the kids' playroom.

Last week I realized the carpet in one of the corners was wet. I attributed this to DD2 engaging in some creative potty training (Hey, she's two and she likes to be naked). I've just checked again and it's still wet. There is no standing water, just damp carpet. There are some pipes overhead but the walls and ceiling show no signs of wetness.

I'm guessing it's coming up through the ground? We're in Central MA and we've had a buttload of rain over the past weeks. This is our second summer here and it definitely didn't happen last summer. We'll have to pull up the carpeting obviously. What do you do for this issue and how many thousands of dollars will we be bleeding during the process?


ETA: And why is my siggie pic all wonky, despite my best attempts at editing?

 

[Papa Deuce]

Your pic exceeds the limit for an image size on the DIS, I am guessing.

Yes, water can come up through the ground. It happens to some degree at my mom's house. Depends on your water table.

 

[mariolatry]

What can you do about it?

 

[suejai]

Do you have a sump pump? If not, it sounds like you may need one. Like the pp said it depends on the water table in your area. Where I live we are required to have one because the water table is so high.

 

[freckles and boo]

OP, if it is coming up through the floor it is called hydrostatic pressure. The cause could be the water table or there could be another problem.

We lived in our home for eleven and a half years and never had a water problem. Then, after days of heavy rain last September our basement floor started gurgling water. It was coming up through microcracks in the concrete floor like little springs. Water was also coming up through our floor drain and our basement toilet. Fortunately we have a sump well and a pump, but we still had to squeegy the water to the well for over 12 hours straight. If we didn't stay on it we had 2" of water accumulating withing minutes. It was awful. It eventually dried out and we thought it was a once in a lifetime thing. Then it happened again two days after Christmas during a heavy snow melt. Again, it was absolutely awful. We contacted Permaseal and US Waterproofing to get estimates for an internal drain tile system and new pump. Before we could make a decision it happened a third time. After that I contacted our village because I KNEW something was up. We had never had a problem before. It turned out that there was a water main leak under our street which was saturating the soil. When the rain was heavy the extra water had nowhere to go. We had half a dozen neighbors with the same problem. They fixed the water main and we have been dry since, but we are still very wary. If and when we finish our basement we will be installing the internal drain tile, new pumps, and a check valve between our house and the sewer. It will cost about $10,000 total.

 

[JR6ooo4]

if the ground is completely saturated all you can do is waterproof the basement, and that is best done on the outisde. You do not want to seal on the inside and have the water sitting against your foundation and inside your masonary basement walls.

If there is a crack in the wall that is letting in water, from mild to moderate to heavy groundwater occurrences, you can have the crack filled with a hydraulic cement/epoxy. it is best to have the pros do this job so it is done well.

the other problem, and one that might be easier to fix. does the surrounding earth slope towards the foundation? It does not take much water to run down the outside of the wall, find a crack and make it all the way to the interior. dirt replaced around a basement will compact some over the years. water wets the earth, then when it dries it compacts, also water erodes the back filled earth much faster than surrounding dirt.

even a single downspout and a mild rain combined with ground sloping towards the house can let enough water back towards the foundation to be a problem. Make sure the sump pump is pumping far away from the house, same with downspouts.

I hope you get it fixed soon, and simply. and be glad it is nice fresh groundwater. in the last relly heavy rain our town's combined sewers back up!!!! four inches at the drain...

also you have to open the walls to check for mold... sorry to say.

put a fan in the area and run it for days to dry everything out as soon as possible.
MIkeeee

 

[AnnR]

buy a dehumidifier and use a shop vac to suction up the water. It is probably just all the rain. Our basement is wetter this year then any other year, dehumidifier and sump pump running all the time.