How Do You Stop Water From Coming Up Through A Basement Floor?

If the concrete floor in your basement is damp to the touch or if items sitting on your basement floor are getting wet, there's water rising up through the concrete. Although concrete looks solid, it has numerous microscopic channels running through it. Water in the soil underneath your home can move up through these channels by capillary action, where it will wind up on your basement floor.

When water is rising through your basement floor, you'll need to fix the problem to prevent your basement from becoming overly damp. Excess humidity in the air can lead to mold growing on anything you store in your basement like furniture. To find out how you can stop water from coming up through your basement floor, read on.

Apply Concrete Sealer to Your Basement Floor

Concrete sealer is typically used to prevent water from soaking into a concrete floor and damaging it, but it can also be used to stop water from coming up through the floor. Concrete sealer contains very tiny minerals that fill in the microscopic channels in the concrete, clogging them and preventing water from flowing through them. It's also inexpensive and easy to apply to your basement floor using a roller brush.

One downside of using concrete sealer for basement waterproofing is that it won't work if the soil underneath your home is highly saturated with water. Soil expands as it absorbs moisture, and the pressure of the expanding soil can force water upwards through the floor. High pressure can push out the tiny minerals from the concrete sealer that are keeping the channels in the concrete blocked. If there's too much water in the soil underneath your home, you'll need to install exterior drainage to keep it dry instead of using a concrete sealer.

Improve Drainage Around Your Basement

Preventing water from collecting in the soil underneath your home will stop it from coming up through your basement floor. One easy way you can keep the soil dry is to install drain tile around your home. Drain tile consists of perforated pipes that are buried in the ground around your basement. Water in the ground flows into the pipes and towards an outlet near the city's storm drains or a low-lying area on your property. Installing drain tile around your basement will divert water away from underneath the floor, keeping the soil dry.

If you're unsure which method is best suited for your home, call a basement waterproofing service in your area and have them inspect your basement floor.

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