While it may be convenient to rent a home instead of owning one, this choice comes with a few problems. One of these is a water-flooded or leaky basement. Unfortunately, being a renter puts you in a precarious position.
First, you can’t just make any changes in your home without your landlord’s permission. Second, is it your responsibility to waterproof your basement, or is it the owner’s obligation? Third, can your insurance cover the costs?
Before anything else, know that waterproofing your basement is a huge undertaking. It’s not as simple as painting your basement and calling it a day. Remember that you need to take care of three main things: your basement’s interior, exterior, and drainage system. It’s a daunting task wherein most would rather rely on basement waterproofing experts.
However, in case you’ve already gotten a go signal to waterproof your basement and you’re willing to do it yourself, here’s a short guide on what you need to do.
Prepare Your Basement And Excavate The Ground Around It
Depending on your landlord or renting setup, try to see if you can be allowed to dig around your basement to expose its outer walls. Likewise, depending on the size of your property and where you live, you may need to acquire permits to go through with the digging. Lastly, make sure to mark and avoid areas where utility lines are. As you’ll be digging around your property, you’ll surely encounter all of them.
Once you’re done excavating or you can’t excavate at all, start cleaning and clearing everything out of your basement. You need to get a better view of the walls, floor, and partitions, if there are any, for you to effectively waterproof the interior.
If there’s a bit of flooding in your basement, you may want to procure a small wet or dry vacuum. One should be enough to remove foot-high floodwater if there’s no storm or rain outside.
However, if it’s rainy season and your basement situation is worse, you may want to buy or rent a sump or submersible pump instead. Don’t remove all the water if there’s ongoing rain. Use the pump to minimize or lower the water level. You don’t want to ruin your pump fast because of overheating.
Check For Wall Damage And Cracks
Once everything’s out of the way, start inspecting your basement walls for cracks. Even if your basement has windows and lights, bring a high-powered flashlight with you when searching for damage. Aside from visible cracks, be on the lookout for seeping water. Don’t forget to check for damage and cracks on the outer walls as well.
Mend Cracks With Hydraulic Cement
Be sure to inform your landlord before you fix or change anything in the basement. Some property owners hate renters who perform redecorations and repairs on their apartments.
Using regular mortar or cement isn’t enough to fix the cracks on your basement walls. While they may seal the damage and prevent water from seeping in, it will be temporary as the plaster may crack because of vibrations from mini-quakes and expansion from temperature changes.
Use hydraulic cement to seal the cracks properly. Unlike regular cement, it can expand as it cures and will fill the gap or space between the cracks.
Alternatively, a quick but messy solution is to use epoxy. Remember that using epoxy is only ideal if the cracks in the walls are not too small or large. Epoxy can last for a long time, especially if you don’t live in a wet and earthquake-prone area.
Apply Sealant
When all cracks and damage on your basement floor are fixed, it’s time to seal them with a cement-based sealant. Know that water can still seep into your concrete walls. To prevent water from leaking inside your basement, apply a sealant to close all your walls’ pores.
Coat The Outer Walls With A Membrane
If you can access your basement’s outer walls, apply a coat of asphalt-modified polyurethane (more commonly referred to as elastomeric membrane) on them. This coating can waterproof concrete walls and prevent water seepage.
Take note that most new houses have basements coated with membranes. Typically, they last for a long while. Even if the walls have cracks, the membrane won’t easily tear or get damaged because it can flex and expand. So, if the outer walls are coated already, reapply the coating only if water seeps through them.
Another thing to note is that patching or reapplying waterproofing membrane can be complex, so don’t hesitate to get help from waterproofing specialists.
Install Drainage Mats
For added protection and waterproofing for your basement, install drainage mats, alternatively called drainage boards, around your basement’s outer wall. These mats have dimples on them, allowing air and water to pass through them and gravity to drain water out of your foundation and concrete walls.
That’s just a rough explanation of how these mats or boards work. Remember that they still have other layers of functionalities that work to protect your basement and its membrane from water.
Install A French Drain
Because you’ve already dug around your foundation or your basement’s perimeter, you can start making a trench and installing a French drain. Also called weeping or drain tiles, French drains are perforated pipes around foundations buried under gravel.
These drains make it easier and quicker for water around foundations to escape outside properties. They also effectively prevent water from pooling and flooding.
Make Slopes Around The Property
You can slope the soil or ground around your home if you can’t dig or do anything drastic to the property. You just need to ensure that the water can flow outside your property and won’t pool near your foundation. If you can’t make slopes, you can try to add a few inches of ground around your home instead.
Conclusion
These are the things you can do to waterproof your basement. To reiterate, though, it’s not an easy project to do alone, especially if there’s existing water damage already. Moreover, be sure to do all of these during the dry season. If the flooding is worse than you expected and it’s raining nonstop, consider getting emergency basement waterproofing.
