Wet basement wall

[Anonymous]

We have a finished basement that doesn’t smell or otherwise seem damp or musty. During the recent storm, we had an outside drain clog with debris and water came in, requiring fans to dry carpet and minor mold remediation under the baseboards (we didn’t realize the water had come in for several days).

In doing a broader inspection, the water remediation company found out that the insulation in the basement exterior wall was “soaked” and seems this is unrelated to the water getting in from the clogged drain, rather likely due to water coming in through the wall directly.

The cost to fix the flooding damage wasn’t terrible, but wondering if anyone has had this wet insulation issue before and what the cost, time and process was to fix it was.

[Anonymous]

Get a dehumidifier down there immediately before you have a mold problem!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a finished basement that doesn’t smell or otherwise seem damp or musty. During the recent storm, we had an outside drain clog with debris and water came in, requiring fans to dry carpet and minor mold remediation under the baseboards (we didn’t realize the water had come in for several days).

In doing a broader inspection, the water remediation company found out that the insulation in the basement exterior wall was “soaked” and seems this is unrelated to the water getting in from the clogged drain, rather likely due to water coming in through the wall directly.

The cost to fix the flooding damage wasn’t terrible, but wondering if anyone has had this wet insulation issue before and what the cost, time and process was to fix it was.

Could be your gutters overflowing and water running down into your foundation. Could be clogged downspouts that don't send water away from the house. Could be the pitch or grade of the ground trapping water against the house rather than running away. It's likely a chronic issue that starts with building up the grade of your yard to pitch water away from the house, have downspouts drain away from the house, and clean gutters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a dehumidifier down there immediately before you have a mold problem!!!!

We do - we had servpro out because of the we carpet issue and they are drying the entire basement. I’m just wondering what the potential cost and time to fix “water in the wall is” while I wait for an estimate…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a dehumidifier down there immediately before you have a mold problem!!!!

We do - we had servpro out because of the we carpet issue and they are drying the entire basement. I’m just wondering what the potential cost and time to fix “water in the wall is” while I wait for an estimate…

You have to figure out where the water is coming from.

If it's from rain, you do various storm water mitigations to keep the water away from the foundation: better gutters/downspouts, french drains, regrading, some use a sort of below-ground flashing around the foundation.

If it's groundwater pushing in, that's a different sort of waterproofing. Resealing the foundation, drains/sump pumps, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a dehumidifier down there immediately before you have a mold problem!!!!

We do - we had servpro out because of the we carpet issue and they are drying the entire basement. I’m just wondering what the potential cost and time to fix “water in the wall is” while I wait for an estimate…

You have to figure out where the water is coming from.

If it's from rain, you do various storm water mitigations to keep the water away from the foundation: better gutters/downspouts, french drains, regrading, some use a sort of below-ground flashing around the foundation.

If it's groundwater pushing in, that's a different sort of waterproofing. Resealing the foundation, drains/sump pumps, etc.

We just did everything in the above but the french drains and it's run us $20-25K. We had to have our brick walls reparged and waterproofed since it can seep into the walls below grade. We installed PVC drains from the downspouts away from the house. We haven't had a problem since. It's important to make sure the pitch of your yard is away from the house so that water doesn't pool against it.

[Anonymous]

Having lived in the area for 40 years, in a variety of houses, I’m not f$&ing with anything short of drains and a sump pump. And I think of it like a roof or electrical or windows - a durable system that could last forever or need replacing within a decades long window.

I’m sure there are houses in the area where are all you need is the right grading and whatever.

And there are houses like mine, which is more like a boat.

There is so much water in the ground in my neighborhood, it pushes up through cracks in the pavement. There’s no way anyone is getting out of that situation with extended downspouts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having lived in the area for 40 years, in a variety of houses, I’m not f$&ing with anything short of drains and a sump pump. And I think of it like a roof or electrical or windows - a durable system that could last forever or need replacing within a decades long window.

I’m sure there are houses in the area where are all you need is the right grading and whatever.

And there are houses like mine, which is more like a boat.

There is so much water in the ground in my neighborhood, it pushes up through cracks in the pavement. There’s no way anyone is getting out of that situation with extended downspouts.

We have but then we're on a hill so the water has somewhere to go. That may not be helpful in your case. It all depends on the topography of your home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having lived in the area for 40 years, in a variety of houses, I’m not f$&ing with anything short of drains and a sump pump. And I think of it like a roof or electrical or windows - a durable system that could last forever or need replacing within a decades long window.

I’m sure there are houses in the area where are all you need is the right grading and whatever.

And there are houses like mine, which is more like a boat.

There is so much water in the ground in my neighborhood, it pushes up through cracks in the pavement. There’s no way anyone is getting out of that situation with extended downspouts.

We have but then we're on a hill so the water has somewhere to go. That may not be helpful in your case. It all depends on the topography of your home.

We’re on a hill too. I don’t worry about flooding, but when it rains I do think our drains and sump pump are essential. The ground is sloped but the clay soil holds a lot of water.

[Anonymous]

Get the French drains and add a second sump-pump. We did everything else, nothing else worked - drains are worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a finished basement that doesn’t smell or otherwise seem damp or musty. During the recent storm, we had an outside drain clog with debris and water came in, requiring fans to dry carpet and minor mold remediation under the baseboards (we didn’t realize the water had come in for several days).

In doing a broader inspection, the water remediation company found out that the insulation in the basement exterior wall was “soaked” and seems this is unrelated to the water getting in from the clogged drain, rather likely due to water coming in through the wall directly.

The cost to fix the flooding damage wasn’t terrible, but wondering if anyone has had this wet insulation issue before and what the cost, time and process was to fix it was.

To the bolded, I don't see how he could possibly know this, unless he had a time machine and could travel back to before the drain clogged and checked the wall. The problem with remediation companies is they're always looking to create big jobs.

That said, if fiberglass insulation in a basement wall gets wet you need to remove the drywall and the insulation and let the framing dry. There's no way to dry the wall out otherwise. An inspection of the framing will tell you whether it has been chronically wet. If it's a chronic problem you have to figure out where the water gets in and stop it.

For this reason fiberglass insulation isn't really appropriate for basements. Insulation that is non-permeable, like foam board or closed cell spray foam, can better resist occasional wetting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get the French drains and add a second sump-pump. We did everything else, nothing else worked - drains are worth it.

Because everyone lives in your house?

Figure out what's going on, then fix that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a finished basement that doesn’t smell or otherwise seem damp or musty. During the recent storm, we had an outside drain clog with debris and water came in, requiring fans to dry carpet and minor mold remediation under the baseboards (we didn’t realize the water had come in for several days).

In doing a broader inspection, the water remediation company found out that the insulation in the basement exterior wall was “soaked” and seems this is unrelated to the water getting in from the clogged drain, rather likely due to water coming in through the wall directly.

The cost to fix the flooding damage wasn’t terrible, but wondering if anyone has had this wet insulation issue before and what the cost, time and process was to fix it was.

To the bolded, I don't see how he could possibly know this, unless he had a time machine and could travel back to before the drain clogged and checked the wall. The problem with remediation companies is they're always looking to create big jobs.

That said, if fiberglass insulation in a basement wall gets wet you need to remove the drywall and the insulation and let the framing dry. There's no way to dry the wall out otherwise. An inspection of the framing will tell you whether it has been chronically wet. If it's a chronic problem you have to figure out where the water gets in and stop it.

For this reason fiberglass insulation isn't really appropriate for basements. Insulation that is non-permeable, like foam board or closed cell spray foam, can better resist occasional wetting.

Wrong, no insulation is designed to get wet without remediation and removal of the walls and materials to dry out. A basement should never get wet ever, the occasional allowance is incorrect information. You need to remediate with exterior water proofing, sump pumps and French drains, in fact all new houses built are required to do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get the French drains and add a second sump-pump. We did everything else, nothing else worked - drains are worth it.

Because everyone lives in your house?

Figure out what's going on, then fix that.

I mean yes, but as a homeowner I’ve just come to accept that if I buy a house in our area without drains and a sump pump, I should expect to have to put them in. And if the drains are really old, I’m going to have them in mind because I know things silt up eventually. I think it’s better to just be prepared for the idea that you might well need them given our geology. You could get lucky with trying to direct surface water away from your house but I’ve never lived in the DMV where that was enough so I don’t expect I ever will.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a finished basement that doesn’t smell or otherwise seem damp or musty. During the recent storm, we had an outside drain clog with debris and water came in, requiring fans to dry carpet and minor mold remediation under the baseboards (we didn’t realize the water had come in for several days).

In doing a broader inspection, the water remediation company found out that the insulation in the basement exterior wall was “soaked” and seems this is unrelated to the water getting in from the clogged drain, rather likely due to water coming in through the wall directly.

The cost to fix the flooding damage wasn’t terrible, but wondering if anyone has had this wet insulation issue before and what the cost, time and process was to fix it was.

To the bolded, I don't see how he could possibly know this, unless he had a time machine and could travel back to before the drain clogged and checked the wall. The problem with remediation companies is they're always looking to create big jobs.

That said, if fiberglass insulation in a basement wall gets wet you need to remove the drywall and the insulation and let the framing dry. There's no way to dry the wall out otherwise. An inspection of the framing will tell you whether it has been chronically wet. If it's a chronic problem you have to figure out where the water gets in and stop it.

For this reason fiberglass insulation isn't really appropriate for basements. Insulation that is non-permeable, like foam board or closed cell spray foam, can better resist occasional wetting.

Wrong, no insulation is designed to get wet without remediation and removal of the walls and materials to dry out. A basement should never get wet ever, the occasional allowance is incorrect information. You need to remediate with exterior water proofing, sump pumps and French drains, in fact all new houses built are required to do so.

You can have someone dig around the base of the house (or at least where the water problems seem to be). Is it brick? If so, you can have the brick parged (applying concrete) below grade and then apply tar to the exterior. This is waterproofing. I'd check your downspouts and make sure you clean your gutters too.