The Real Estate Browser Volume 7, Issue 17 | Page 20
20 — Say you saw it in The Real Estate Browser of Lynchburg — Volume 7 Number 17
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THE WET BASEMENT BLUES
By Drew Howard , President, HomePro, Inc.
There are times that try men’s souls, and
dampen an ankle or two as well. The combination of prolonged rains and poorly draining
soils is one of those times. The result is water
seepage into the basement.
A Few Definitions
Probably the most used and abused word
in the wet basement business is hydrostatic
pressure. Essentially, all this term means is
that the weight of a column of water exerts
pressure. The pressure exerted is exactly
equal to the weight of a one-inch square cross
sectional column of water, or directly proportional to the height of the column. In wet
basement terms, this means how deep is the
basement and is the ground around it saturated?
Saturated earth means that the soil particles are wet and the space between them
is filled with water. When water saturates to
a certain depth, pressure will form. When a
lower pressure area exists, within a saturated
earth zone, the water within the zone flows
to the low pressure area. Liken this to an
empty bucket with a hole in the bottom being
pushed down into a bathtub full of water. As
the bucket fills with water, the level of the
water in the tub lowers. The same principal
applies with wet basements.
Surface water is water that has landed on
the earth’s surface in the form of rain. It can
also be runoff water from roofs or neighboring hillsides.
Ground water is water that is contained
within an aquifer. Aquifers are water bearing
strata beneath the earth’s surface that exist
above a relatively impermeable layer, usually
within a gravel or sand layer.
The upper reach of an aquifer is called the
water table. The water table will rise and fall
with the pattern of seasonal rains. It takes
a long time for an aquifer to be recharged
because it requires surface water and aquifers tend to extend over very wide areas and
contain billions of gallons of water. They tend
to rise and fall only with prolonged seasonal
weather, not with individual rains. Water
tables are discharged when they are pumped
through a well, for example.
Ground water can sometimes be seen on
the earth’s surface, usually in swamps or quarries.
Perched water tables are miniature aquifers.
A hillside or drainage area will trap runoff
water in a low area, allowing it to seep into
the earth until it reaches a relatively impermeable layer of soil or rock. Here it will tend
to form ponds.
Some Basic Facts of Construction
• No basement can ever be built to be
entirely waterproof.