How To Keep A Basement Dry | Ask This Old House

Рет қаралды 42,681

Ай бұрын

In this video, This Old House host Kevin O’Connor discusses wet basements and what homeowners can do about them with mason Mark McCullough and heating and plumbing expert Richard Trethewey.
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Plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey and masonry expert Mark McCullough explain a variety of culprits and solutions for basements that are struggling with water issues. Water in the basement is either surface water or sub-surface water.
Where to find it?
Surface water requires water management solutions. Water management solutions could include but aren’t limited to leveling your yard, adding swales, repositioning your downspouts, and repairing any cracks in your foundation.
Subsurface water is groundwater that is coming into the basement via the floor as the water table rises. Solutions for subsurface water include French drains, sump pumps, and dry wells. Subflooring material with a raised rubber base can be used as a preventive measure for moisture.
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From the makers of This Old House, America’s first and most trusted home improvement show, Ask This Old House answers the steady stream of home improvement questions asked by viewers across the United States. Covering topics from landscaping to electrical to HVAC and plumbing to painting and more. Ask This Old House features the experts from This Old House, including general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, landscape contractor Jenn Nawada, master carpenter Norm Abram, and host Kevin O’Connor. ASK This Old House helps you protect and preserve your greatest investment-your home.
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How To Keep A Basement Dry | Ask This Old House
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Пікірлер: 62

@robertm5969 Ай бұрын

Grade the soil around the house so water will flow away. Put French drains in where you can't. Have downspouts extend far enough away from house. Clean gutters regularly. THEN focus on sump systems, which are backup to all the passive systems. My basement had puddles and an active leak when we moved in. My dad and I spent an hour regrading the soil and it's been dry ever since.

@georgejetson4378 Ай бұрын

Wow! You spent an entire hour regrading the soil. That’s a lot of work. You must be exhausted.

@robertm5969 Ай бұрын

@@georgejetson4378 doesn't take long to dig a small drainage swale

@steadly3668 28 күн бұрын

@@georgejetson4378 You probably grift elderly home owners into $30,000 of drain tiles and sump pumps while also recommending your buddy's foundation piers.

@tbone8636 28 күн бұрын

@@steadly3668, as if regrading your property is always the answer and cheap…

@seanrichardson-qk2ss Ай бұрын

I have watched this show my whole life ! These guys are the best! Without them I would never have gotten into the business! Thank you for the inspiration!

@bfullsyou Ай бұрын

Gotta drill a weep hole in that plastic pipe beneath check valve low enough for spray to contain in sump to prevent air lock.

@gregschultheis 29 күн бұрын

This comment needs to be on top. It will be in the instructions for those installing their own sump pump, but missing that small step it catastrophic! I bought a house last year and was pleased to see it had a new sump. After getting an inch of water in the basement and plenty of reading in forums. I learned quickly that the check valve was installed too close to the pump, and there was no hole to prime the pump. Twice I had a dry pump running continuously, flooding the basement. Its unfinished and old, so no hard, we dried it out, but it taught me a valuable lesson.

@sociopathmercenary Ай бұрын

When we lived in the city, I fought the waterproofing battle with our basement and mostly succeeded... Until the city storm sewers overflowed and put two feet of water through the drain into my basement. When we moved, number one on my list was a walkout basement. Even if you get a leak, it isn't getting any deeper than the doorsill.

@SharpstowntheotherDanMal-ld3nc 29 күн бұрын

Thank you for being a awesome home improvement show since 1979

@Ahmedkhan8802 24 күн бұрын

Ah, yeah - this brings back memories of our house when we lived in Fort Wayne, IN. Having a basement was great, but you had to have a sump pump, and having a backup sump pump provided peace of mind.

@BamBamBigelow.. Ай бұрын

Dry basement is a happy basement!

@WisconsinWanderer Ай бұрын

I’ve used my backup system a few times and so glad I installed one I even have two sumps 😊

@Algamear Ай бұрын

If this is such a common question why have you never shown a proper french drain installation on your program. I'd be more than happy to volunteer my house when they do it in a few weeks!

@thearch1tect249 Ай бұрын

I am originally from up north but now I am in the south and they laugh at basements. I hate these houses on a slab!

@SignorNessuno65 Ай бұрын

I'm in Chicago. I find it shocking seeing furnaces down south installed in wet crawlspaces, rusty and full of dirt and insects.

@thearch1tect249 Ай бұрын

@@SignorNessuno65 All we have down here is heat pumps which suck to be honest!

@davidparker9676 Ай бұрын

I love basements, they are a great place for mechanicals, storage and potential additional square footage to build. Slab houses are a serious problem when you have plumbing issues and the only access to the pipes is by ruining the floor. The slab houses are also something to worry about it getting flooded very easily. I have had several customers that a minor plumbing problem became a financially devastating experience to their slab home.

@thearch1tect249 Ай бұрын

@@davidparker9676 I understand, My house was built in 2021 but I bought it because of time and financial constraints. It is slowly becoming more common with basement here, so I will find a house where I have access to all the piping and electrical for that matter.

@thearch1tect249 Ай бұрын

Even garages are finally becoming normal down south. Most houses have car ports which are hideous in my opinion.

@laurie6123 Ай бұрын

My house was born in 1956, no sump pump, no problem so far. Does get effervescent...

@aprev039 Ай бұрын

If you’re on city water I highly recommend a water powered sump pump. No need to worry about a battery going out.

@Quizzer11 Ай бұрын

Can you describe how this system works?

@aprev039 Ай бұрын

@@Quizzer11 look up the water commander or a liberty sj10 water jets. Both are good options. The basics is they are connected to your water line as a means of powering the pump by suctioning the water up and out.

@sueurb3121 Ай бұрын

I dug a trench 3 to 4 ft from foundation. No more water inside basement. No pvc piping just a trench to capture rain & flow from living on a hill. This old house used to have these solutions

@DanBurgaud Ай бұрын

nice combo!

@gurkdoinwork Ай бұрын

these videos are awesome

@SharpstowntheotherDanMal-ld3nc 29 күн бұрын

The concord barn is the best episode

@virgil3241 28 күн бұрын

I bought a house, and it has a sump pit, thats covered, in the corner of my rec room. Discovered it by accident when vacuuming the rug So by code they had to have one, but because its a walk out, it was never set up with a sump pump. Even have a separate circuit for it. House has been there for almost 20 years, and Ive been in it for 6 with no water issues. But I have done a lot with extending eavestroughs away from the home, grading and landscaping/ Knock on wood, it stays like that. if it does, not something that was because I didnt do something

@steadly3668 Ай бұрын

Keep your gutters clean and maintain the soil grade outside to shed the water away. A simple sump pump is good. I've seen many inside drain tiles systems fail and they weaken the foundation walls by replacing the floor with 2-3" new concrete.

@steadly3668 Ай бұрын

Call a structural engineer before spending thousands on any kind of foundation repairs or leaking.

@Burps___ Ай бұрын

My home has a sump pump that runs for 2-3 days after a heavy rain, dry otherwise. Because of that, I have two sump pits (primary and overflow backup), two pumps (Zoeller is the ONLY brand to trust), an outdoor automatic Generac generator (battery back ups last 10-20 hours as Rich says only when the battery is fresh; your vacations last 10-20 hours?), and a portable Honda generator to use if the Generac fails. So, bottom line: avoid basements with potential for water by living on a hilltop. 😊

@jjchopper02 Ай бұрын

I’m done with Zoeller. I just had the 2nd one quit on me. I also was using Zoeller for our septic grinder pump. I just had to replace my 3rd one.

@Burps___ 29 күн бұрын

@@jjchopper02 I’ve had exceptional performance with Zoeller, all-metal, expensive but good. Which brand or model do you use as a better replacement?

@tumbleweed1976 Ай бұрын

No mention of fabric. Perhaps a visual cutout showing pipes, rocks, fabric, pump. Thank you.

@styner3 Ай бұрын

Gutter Guard is pricey but it solved my basement issues (house surrounded by trees) and if my gutters ever clog they clear it for free. Lifetime warranty that transfers when you sell your home.

@georgejetson4378 Ай бұрын

That lifetime warranty may not be worth the cost of the paper it’s printed on. I have guttergaurd and tried exercising the warranty because of a roof leak the roofer said was caused by a clogged gutter. Turns out that the company that did the installation went out of business and the parent company could not identify any qualified installers in my area.

@user-on2rb3ts3r 20 күн бұрын

Best way to keep basement dry starts outside

@SharpstowntheotherDanMal-ld3nc 29 күн бұрын

Basements do smell after the first time

@logmeindog Ай бұрын

I don't trust any brand besides Zoeller. Had one of those battery backup pumps I bought at Lowe's corrode to pieces and stop working after 2-3 years. My first Zoeller was over 20 years old when I mistakenly took it out of service! Back in she goes!

@ncooty 29 күн бұрын

All this sailing talk makes me think of the great Steve Thomas. Miss you, Steve!

@TheeJohnnyBravo Ай бұрын

I suppose we could build a basement with a 10 degree incline, with a drainage hole

@benjaminreynolds3659 Ай бұрын

I have a clear oily substance coming up from the concrete floor in a few spaces in my basement, it is not a lot by any means, but you can definitely tell there are spots here and there. Nobody knows what it is it seems. It is definitely not water as it is oily but not oil as it is clear as I said.

@davidparker9676 Ай бұрын

Send a sample to a lab and find out exactly what it is.

@jjchopper02 Ай бұрын

Bubbling crude….. oil that is… black gold…..Texas tea !

@benjaminreynolds3659 29 күн бұрын

@@jjchopper02 No Beverley Hills for me, it is clear.

@ovidiuciuparu6421 Ай бұрын

Why the houses have a crappy…or not at all foundation?

@steadly3668 Ай бұрын

Pump's ready to work is the quickest option.

@durangodave Ай бұрын

why not just put a water proof membrane under concrete on new construction, and for existing construction just put the membrane on top of the floor and inside the walls. Or for existing just pour a non poris mix of some kind. As long as the water table is deeper than the frostline that should work.

@ronbennett7885 Ай бұрын

TOH seeks to appeal to a large audience and advertisers. Downplaying the problems of sump pumps. The age-old advice to avoid homes with them is still sound advice. Sump pumps often eventually fail due to one reason or another. Bad motor, extended power outage, or even a computer board problem, since so much is now electronic. No sump pump is one less worry.

@sherriianiro747 29 күн бұрын

Exactly! Properly built foundations do not need sump pump.