The wife and I are looking at new homes, and we found an oddity for the Southern states, a home with a full basement. The house is a large home, and the basement is HUGE. We typically never see homes with basements in this part of the country, apparently the previous owner was from the North and wanted one.

We inspected the house today, and I noticed at the bottom of one of the basement walls where it meets the floor it was a little wet. Not a puddle or anything, but some seepage. Also, one of the back walls had a crack diagonal across it.

How common are you basement owners seeing cracks or water seepage? I'm trying to understand if this is normal, or if it spells future doom. The house is only a couple years old, everything still appears brand new.

Here is the house I'm interested in, if you click the photo gallery there are pics of the basement. It is 4,261 sq-ft and on 1 acre of land.

http://search.har.com/engine/dispSea...?mlnum=3325073

Thanks for any info!
Tony

 

a crack isnt normal really it sounds like something wasnt done correctly and the house settled and cracked the foundation, i am sure it could be fixed BigMike could probable explain it best as conctret is his thing

as far as the wet basement goes, you have a few options, you can monitor the seepage and see if its a real problem or just a damp spot and deal with it if it gets worse, or there are tons of companys that can seal the concrete to prevent future damage. just google dry basemant systems and a ton of info comes up

 

The thing you need to check out is how wet is the land it was built on, where is the water table and what is the yearly rain's effect. If the ground is very wet, like it would be if there was a spring in the yard, I'd air on the side of caution.

Other possibilities for the crack could be that the builder did not/doesn't have alot of experience with the needed steps to have a full basement, like you said on that area of the country it's not common, so there could be some reason it happened due to the methods etc.etc. It very well could be just a settling crack as well. Look at the walls above where the crack is, make sure there are no signs of cracking there. Also, make sure where the crack is the wall doesn't look like it's sliding, like it's coming inward or going outward, that would be very bad.

As for the water seepage, look at the walls and see if there is any signs there was water further up the wall, usually you will see a water line of some sort. Maybe not on a newer home, but homes that are older that have commonly flooding basements usually end up with a line on the concrete that shows where it gets to. If there is no sump pump, then it may not be that bad, and if you are concerned you could always have a hole cut in the cement and put in a sump pump or in the lowest corner so that way if the basement were to start taking in some water the pump would prevent a flood out.

Awesome looking house, not sure what it's going for, but in CT that would surly be a 1 to 1.5 million dollar home from what I can see.... looks great!

 

Seepage can be a real pain though. How was the weather when you were looking at the house, and when was the last rain?

My basement, 364 days of the year, is just fine. But we've had 2 instances in the past 2 years, where we had a "100 year storm" and got 6-7in. rain in 2 days. The seepage/moisture in the corner of my basement turned into a decent sized puddle that reached the finished portion of my basement and left a nice wet spot, which turned into a stain, on the carpet. I had to hit the seepage spot with the wet/dry vac about every hour, since a puddle would build up. Then needless to say, it took about 4-5 days to dry out. If the leak is bad enough, it can turn into a real bitch to fix, since you may have to dig up the foundation and have it re-tarred.

I would err to caution as JL said, but it may be ok if it doesn't turn into a puddle in rain storms. Good advice - you'll probably want to put a dehumidifier down there to help keep it dry and not smell of mildew.

BTW, beautiful house! Definitely a 1mil+ place around here.

 

Price on the home is $415K, things are much cheaper here in Houston

 

It could be a number of things,might be ground water or if the gutters and leaders are not pitched right the rain water can penetration into the basement. Also with could be a leak off the water main or a collapsed branched on you sewer line.You have two choices excovate the land on the perimeter wall of your foundation where the wall is wet.Water proof the wall from outside of the house. Second call a plumber they have a computer that can sound out the movement of water to locate where the water is coming from this is big bucks though, good luck guy.

 

I had a leak in the condo I owned.

They chipped away on a crack, re-cemented it- it still leaked.

The had a guy who claimed to fix cracks in dams.. used a sealant under pressure with zerk fittings.. very impressive. Still leaked.

Old Italian man came in, tore away the wooden studs and found exactly where it was coming in. Cemented the inside, dug around the foundation, place tar around that.

Guess what- never leaked again!

The black mold (from leaks) is bad.. especially towards kids and those with mold allergies.

Get someone to seal the outside with tar, then re-seal the crack with concrete sealant and monitor. Once it's fixed- it's fixed.

 

new england doesnt have the earth shifting issues that TX has... thats of course one of the main reasons why people dont bother building basements in TX.

one of my friends from Boston just built a house in Fort Worth with a basement. i told him he was crazy, but he had to have it. i'm going to send him a link to your house so he knows what problems to expect

 

I spent a lot of $$$$$ and time fixing my basement foundation. It would leak about once every two years... but bad enough so I didn't dare keep anything good down there. Mold can also be a major problem. A foundation problem would not stop me from buying a house if everything else is perfect, but I would make sure you have a really good home inspection prior to signing to give you an idea on how bad the problem is and use the problem in negotiating a price.

 

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm moving out there for the cheap houses

It would probly be a good idea to have the ground water level checked.Yes,you can seal the walls but it could cost some good $$.If the ground water is high you will always have problems with water in the basement which could wreck the idea of finishing it off.

 

Thanks. I may go look at it again and take some photos. There wasn't any leaks coming from the crack, and I remember it was smooth across the crack.

 

My basement has tiny cracks that were smooth. And no water would leak until we would get a big rain storm in the spring and the water would pour through.

I would be more worried about if the exterior walls were properly sealed and if they foundation drains were buried below the footings. How old is the house?

 

Make sure you cite all of the infomation about the problems you learned here when you're making your offer.

-Gary

P.S. That is a huge ******* basement

 

Tony, no basement should have any water in it at any time. Standing water or water "sweating" through the foundation is bad! While crack repair is not that big of a deal, waterproofing is. Either you apply a waterproofing to the interior walls or excavate outside where the crack and spot waterproof there. It could get expensive.

Is the standing water where the crack is? Also, one thing to keep in mind is the water table. The water table may be only inches below your basement slab and after any significant rain storm the water table may rise and cause water to seep through your basement slab. Make sure all your gutters are clean and that all the leaders are draining the water properly as far away from your house as possible.

Tony, basements should be bone dry in any weather, any season. If you were to ever finish your basement, sheetrock the walls, carpet the floor, etc, the last thing you want is intruding water.

Depending on the water table, you may have to install a sump pump with a check valve. If the water table ever rises the pump licks on and keeps the table from rising into your basement. The basement floor needs to be sawcut, chopped out, you have to form and pour a concrete pit and install the sump pump. Then you have to plumb the piping out into a drain at least 15' from the house.

Don't let anyone tell you a little water is no big deal. In 5 years time it could destroy your basement!

Tony, check the house out after the next rain storm. That will give you a good idea how sound the foundation is.

 

Oh by the way, we have been fixing leaking basements since 1967 and NEVER EVER had 1 person call and say there basement leaked after we finished.

 

dude, my house is worth 400k and its 1200 square feet and needs some work. I love Texas! Now if I can my wife to move....hmmm.

 

I need to move! Not counting the basement and garage, my house is about 700 sq-ft smaller but $200k more.

A basement company came out and took care of a few cracks that are in my foundation. They put a French Drain at the bottom of the wall where it meets the floor. A sump pump takes care of the water level under the foundation. Basements should be dry but alot have leaks. There are ways to take care of them though.



TBYRNE MOTORSPORTS LLC
ORDER LINE - 1-877-4-TBYRNE
E-MAIL - tbyrne@tbyrne.com

CHECK OUR WEBSITE FOR WEEKLY SPECIALS! INSTALLATION SPECIALS AVAILABLE!