Skip to content
Tigard Waterproofing

Damp, wet or flooding: work out which

Wet basement in Tigard

A wet basement is a symptom. The same damp carpet can come from a gutter, from the soil or from the air in the room, and each has a different cure.

Three levels, three responses

Damp

The air smells stale. Cardboard goes limp. Cold pipes drip in summer. Nothing is actually wet to the touch.

This is often indoor air condensing on cool surfaces. Ventilation and a dehumidifier may be all it takes.

Wet

Dark patches on walls, a white crust, a damp line at the floor edge after storms.

Water is coming through the masonry. The outside checks below come first, then a company's opinion.

Flooding

Water across the floor.

Get it pumped out and dried by a water damage company first. Stopping the next one is the waterproofing question.

Outside checks, simplest first

  1. Gutters

    Clean them and watch them in heavy rain. A gutter that overflows drops a roof's worth of water beside the wall.

  2. Downspouts

    Each one should send water well away from the house through an extension or a buried pipe. A downspout that ends at the foundation is the most common single cause.

  3. The ground by the wall

    Soil, bark and paving should fall away from the house. Beds that have been topped up for years often slope back toward it.

  4. Window wells and stair wells

    Clear leaves and check each has a drain that takes a bucket of water.

  5. The street

    If the storm drain outside is blocked with leaves, water backs up toward the low houses. Clear the grate if it is safe, or report it.

The foil test for damp walls

Tape a square of kitchen foil or plastic tightly to the wall and leave it for two days.

Moisture on the room side of the foil means the air is the source. Moisture trapped behind it, or a darker patch of wall when you peel it off, means water is coming through.

Tell the company which it was. It changes what they look for.

What a waterproofing company adds

A company can measure the moisture in the walls and floor, check the old footing drain if there is one, and tell you whether the water table is the problem.

If the outside checks did not cure it, the usual options are a repair at one entry point, an interior drain or work on the outside of the wall.

Hold off on finishing the basement until it has stayed dry through a full wet season.

Wet basement questions

What is the white powder on my basement wall?

Mineral salts left behind when water passes through masonry and dries. It brushes off and is harmless, but it shows the wall is carrying water.

Will a dehumidifier fix a wet basement?

It fixes damp air. It does not stop water coming through a wall or floor, though it makes the room more usable while you sort that out.

My basement is only wet in the heaviest storms. Does it need work?

Start with the outside checks. If it still happens, at least protect what is stored there and ask a company what the water is doing to the wall over time.

Ready to have someone look at it?

Describe what you are seeing and where in the house it is. The company on the phone will tell you whether it is work they take on and when they could come out.

Get a waterproofing company on the phone

For homeowners with water coming into a basement or crawl space, or a yard that drains toward the house.

Call (503) 555-0120

Calls can be recorded. Read how the referral is paid for and what happens to your details.

Call (503) 555-0120