Every man wishes to become a responsible homeowner someday. A home is an important investment and serves as a safe refuge for a man, his wife and their offspring. This is the reason why every homeowner makes sure that he protects his home from whatever might cause damage to it. He makes sure that the home he is going to set up is in a secure place. He makes sure that it is fire resistant. One thing more that a homeowner makes sure of is to prevent a flooded basement from ever occurring in his home.



A basement is an important part of every house. Structurally, basements serve as the foundation of the house. If flooding always takes place in a house's basement, then the hydrostatic pressure from flood waters may cause the foundation to weaken and with it, may cause the structural collapse of a home. It is therefore important to prevent a flooded basement from ever happening in one's home.

A basement is also important because it serves as a place to store precious family possessions such as old photographs, trophies, medals, and other memoirs. A flooded basement might cause damage to these possessions.

In order to avoid flooded basements, a homeowner should consider a lot of pertinent information about his house and the ground that the house sits on. Here are some pertinent pieces of information that would be helpful in preventing a flooded basement.

(1) Find out first what the climate is like in your area. If precipitation is prevalent and occurs heavily, then expect that the ground surrounding your basement will be wet most of the year. If the rainfall or precipitation in your area is high most of the year, then installing a sump pit with a sump pump in your basement is recommended to prevent flooding.

(2) If the water table in your area is high, then the ground will easily be saturated by rainwater or melting snow. This means that excess water will most likely overflow the surface of the yard or lawn and would flow down sloping areas. If the yard is sloping towards the foundation of the house, then hydrostatic pressure will build up and water will seep through the pores and cracks of the basement wall. If cracks are not caulked properly, then expect a flooded basement after every heavy rainfall. Make sure that the water in the yard is draining properly by tracking where the water flows. Ideally, water should flow away from the house and towards the street where the main sewage or drainage system is located.

(3) For basements with a sump pit, make sure that the drain tile of the sump pit is free of obstruction. This will allow water to flow readily towards the collecting tank underneath the basement. If the drain tile is obstructed then water will not enter the tank and will be left to collect on the basement floor. This is also one problem that leads to having a flooded basement.

(4) Obstructed gutters and downspouts from the roof may also cause excess water to collect near the foundation of the house and eventually may cause a flooded basement. Make sure that water is flowing freely and properly through gutters and orient the downspouts in such a way that they are facing away from the walls of the house.

By keeping these simple guidelines in mind, one can be sure of protecting his home, his investment and his safe refuge for the family.