How To Keep A Basement Dry | Ask This Old House

[@robertm5969]

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]

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

[@robertm5969]

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

[@steadly3668]

@@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]

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

[@seanrichardson-qk2ss]

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!

[@SharpstowntheotherDanMal-ld3nc]

Thank you for being a awesome home improvement show since 1979

[@sociopathmercenary]

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.

[@bfullsyou]

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]

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.

[@BamBamBigelow..]

Dry basement is a happy basement!

[@Ahmedkhan8802]

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.

[@WisconsinWanderer]

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

[@aprev039]

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

[@Quizzer11]

Can you describe how this system works?

[@aprev039]

@@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]

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

[@steadly3668]

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]

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

[@thearch1tect249]

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]

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

[@thearch1tect249]

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

[@davidparker9676]

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]

@@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]

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

[@Algamear]

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!

[@ncooty]

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

[@TimTaviner]

Best way to keep basement dry starts outside

[@laurie6123]

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

[@styner3]

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]

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.

[@SharpstowntheotherDanMal-ld3nc]

The concord barn is the best episode

[@virgil3241]

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

[@gurkdoinwork]

these videos are awesome

[@DanBurgaud]

nice combo!

[@Burps___]

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]

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___]

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

[@sable7114]

Oh guys please don't tell me the pump doesn't work well. I've gotten my last estimate and I'm sick of these hurricanes or at least the rain from them and I am trying to decide who's recommendation I want to follow. I have a crawl space that opens into the basement and I know for a fact that the water is getting into the crawl space first. There is an electric sump pump in the basement but not automatic. With hurricane helene, I was without power for 4 or 5 days and probably ended up with about 2 ft of water in a 25 by 30 ft basement. I can see the water pouring through the cracks of the crawl space and to cracks at the base of the basement at the top of the first cinder block. I don't know if I want a drain drilled into the basement floor as half of the recommendations are suggesting that the drain be placed in the crawl space with two sump pumps of the brand you just mentioned and then just one in the basement preventing the water from ever getting to the basement hopefully. I'm leaning towards a company who proposes feeling any cracks in the basement with hydraulic cement and then painting the wall with something and then also putting a vapor barrier on the crawl space ground. Don't know if I'm an enthusiastic about encapsulation because I don't want my vents covered. Any thoughts. It sounds like this particular pump would not have worked for me with no power in the entire neighborhood for approximately 5 days.

[@tumbleweed1976]

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

[@SharpstowntheotherDanMal-ld3nc]

Basements do smell after the first time

[@benjaminreynolds3659]

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]

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

[@jjchopper02]

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

[@benjaminreynolds3659]

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

[@ovidiuciuparu6421]

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

[@steadly3668]

Pump's ready to work is the quickest option.

[@TheeJohnnyBravo]

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

[@logmeindog]

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!

[@durangodave]

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]

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]

Exactly! Properly built foundations do not need sump pump.

[@SharpstowntheotherDanMal-ld3nc]

We heard horror stories

[@Its_crazyadamla]

If i have water in my basement i will go to walmart and buy 10 tubs of flex seal

[@pcplayer9193]

Watch me saw this old house in half!

[@davidparker9676]

The house is like a boat, sail away my friend.

[@XXMETAL4LIF3XX]

have fun with that

[@ShoeString13]

I used one of these, we call it a banana. SF/

[@gregkillmeier8560]

See French drain man if you really want a dry basement

[@TrumpAmerica-2024]

just watch Gate City Foundation Drainage not these guys.