8 Solutions to Common Wet-Basement Problems

Solving wet-basement problems is one of the most important things you can do to protect the value of your home and health of your family.

Not only does a wet basement feel and smell nasty, it poses a great risk to your home’s value. Left unchecked, basement moisture can ruin floors and walls, encourage mold, even damage roofing.

Some wet basements are easy to cure simply by clearing gutters and by diverting gutter water away from the foundation. But if the problem comes from other sources—water flowing toward the house on the surface, seeping in from underground, or backing up through municipal storm drains—you must take more aggressive action.

Here are eight strategies to keep water out of your basement.

1. Add gutter extensions
If downspouts are dumping water less than 5 feet away from your house, you can guide water farther out by adding plastic or metal gutter extensions. But extensions aren’t the neatest or most effective long-term solution, especially if you’re likely to trip over them or run over them with a lawn mower. Permanent, underground drain pipe is invisible and capable of moving large quantities of gutter runoff much farther from your house. For about $10 a foot, a landscaper or waterproofing contractor will dig a sloping trench and install pipe to carry the water safely away.

2. Plug gaps
If you see water dribbling into the basement through cracks or gaps around plumbing pipes, you can plug the openings yourself with hydraulic cement or polyurethane caulk for less than $20. Plugs work when the problem is simply a hole that water oozes through, either from surface runoff or from wet soil. But if the water is coming up through the floor, or at the joint where floor and walls meet, the problem is groundwater, and plugs won’t do the trick.

3. Restore the crown
If the gutters are working and you’ve plugged obvious holes, but water still dribbles into your basement or crawl space from high on foundation walls, then surface water isn’t draining away from the house as it should.  Your house should sit on a “crown” of soil that slopes at least 6 inches over the first 10 feet in all directions. Over time, the soil around the foundation settles. You can build it back with a shovel and dirt. One cubic yard of a water-shedding clay-loam mix from a landscape supply house costs around $30 (plus delivery) and is enough for a 2-foot-wide, 3-inch-deep layer along 57 feet of foundation.

4. Reshape the landscape
Since your home's siding slightly overlaps its foundation, building up the crown could bring soil--and rot and termites--too close to siding for comfort: 6 inches is the minimum safe distance. In that case, create a berm (a mound of dirt) or a swale (a wide, shallow ditch), landscape features that redirect water long before it reaches your house. In small areas, berms are easy; a landscape contractor can build one for a few hundred dollars. On bigger projects, berms make less sense because you’ll have to truck in too much soil. In that case, dig a swale (about $1,000). Once landscaping grows in, berms and swales can be attractive features in your yard.

5. Repair footing drains
If water is leaking into your basement low on the walls or at the seams where walls meet the floor, your problem is hydrostatic pressure pushing water up from the ground. First, check whether you have footing drains, underground pipes installed when the house was built to carry water away from the foundation. (Look for a manhole or drain in the basement floor or a cleanout pipe capped a few inches above the floor.) If the drains are clogged, open the cleanout and flush the pipes with a garden hose. If that doesn’t work, a plumber with an augur can do the job for about $600.

6. Install a curtain drain
If you don’t have working footing drains, install a curtain drain to divert water that’s traveling underground toward your house. A type of French drain, a curtain drain is a shallow trench--2 feet deep and 1.5 feet across--filled with gravel and perforated piping that intercepts water uphill of your house and carries it down the slope a safe distance away. If the drain passes through an area with trees or shrubs, consider switching to solid pipe to reduce the risk of roots growing into the piping and clogging it. Cost: $10 to $16 per linear foot.

7. Pump the water
If you can’t keep subsurface water out, you’ll have to channel it from the inside. To create an interior drain system, saw a channel around the perimeter of the floor, chip out the concrete, and lay perforated pipe in the hole. The pipe drains to a collection tank at the basement’s low spot, where a sump pump shoots it out the house. Starting at about $3,000, an interior system is the best and least disruptive option in an unfinished basement with easy access. It’s also a good choice if your yard is filled with mature landscaping that digging an exterior drainage system would destroy.

8. Waterproof the walls
Installing an interior drainage system gets the water out but doesn’t waterproof the walls. For that, you need an exterior system: a French drain to relieve hydrostatic pressure and exterior waterproofing to protect the foundation. It’s a big job that requires excavating around the house, but it may be the best solution if you have a foundation with numerous gaps. It also keeps the mess and water outside, which may be the best choice if you don’t want to tear up a finished basement. The downside, besides a price tag that can reach $20,000, is that your yard takes a beating, and you may need to remove decks or walkways.

HouseLogic.com | By: Jeanne Huber

Kitchen On The Small Side? 4 Space Saving Designs To Maximize What You’ve Got

So you’ve found the perfect home, but there’s just one problem: the kitchen isn’t as big as you’d like it to be. At first glance, a smaller kitchen might seem like a deal-breaker, especially if you love to cook. With a few space saving design tricks, though, you’ll have all the space you need and then some. It’s all about making the most of what you’ve got. Here’s how you can turn even the smallest kitchen into an efficient cooking and dining space.

Fill Up The Walls: There’s Ample Storage All Around You

Walls are a surprisingly underused surface area in most kitchens. From spice racks to towel racks to magnetic knife boards, walls can offer a wealth of space options. Ditch the bowl fruit painting and throw up some hooks and shelves. Not only will everything you need be within reach, you’ll open up more space in your cabinets and on your counters. For the gadget obsessed, rack storage will give you the chance to show off your nifty kitchen gadgets.

Repurpose Your Corners With Shelving And Other Amenities

In a small kitchen, sufficient counter space can be hard to come by. While knife blocks and spices racks tend to encroach on what little space is available, not all space saving designs are about reclaiming lost space. Sometimes it’s about repurposing forgotten spaces like corners. Most homeowners dismiss the corners of their kitchens, thinking the space is too awkwardly shaped to be of any real use. Take advantage of corners by installing clever storage like a lazy Susan system for under the countertop, built-in shelving for above the counter, or for a really creative update, dedicate the corner to an invaluable feature like the kitchen sink.

Hang Your Pots And Pans

Pots are bulky and often difficult to store without taking up several cabinets. A circular pot rack mounted to the ceiling allows you to take advantage of the height of your kitchen in the open space right above your head. In fact, pot racks can be used to store all kinds of cookware and cooking utensils that are too cumbersome to store in drawers, like ladles and colanders. Placing a rack in the empty space above an island or by the stove can provide excellent storage space and easy accessibility. Ceiling and wall-mounted pot racks often have hooks to hang your cookware from, so make sure you mount yours in a place that doesn’t force visitors to navigate an aerial obstacle course just to make it to the sink.

Invest In A Rolling Tea Trolley

Kitchens with very limited counter space can gain an extra work area as well as storage space with a tea trolley. A mobile work surface means to you can roll it anywhere in your kitchen to do your dicing and slicing, and then store it away when you’re done. Add multiple shelves to the trolley to create even more storage.

Compliments of RealtyBlogContent.com

14 Ways to Reclaim Lost Counter Space

Counter space. No matter how big the kitchen, you hardly ever hear anyone complaining that there’s too much of it. Especially in a compact kitchen, clear counters are a precious commodity worth fighting for. Luckily, there are lots of smart storage ideas that can help you reclaim lost counter space. Here are 14 great solutions that are just begging to be a part of your kitchen expansion.

Roll me away
If you’re striving to save space, a rolling cart with a butcher-block top does double duty. Use the top for prep when you need it, and give dishes or other supplies a good home on the shelves underneath.

Get some hang time
Most kitchen utensils have a notch on the handle, perfect for perching up high. This way, you can save your limited drawer space for something else.

Climbing the ceiling
Similar to the elevated utensil concept, hanging your pots and pans from a ceiling-mounted rack keeps them nearby and easy to spot. Even better, the cabinet they used to occupy gets freed up, making room for items that used to live on your counter.

Sink in
When you’re chopping, you can’t be washing, so why not use your kitchen sink as a prep area? Any cutting board slightly wider than your sink will do the trick.

Slide into home
If you’re lucky enough to be in the design stages, why not sneak a few pull-out surfaces into the mix? It’s a great way to gain extra space that appears only when you need it.

Beyond the block
Let’s face it, traditional knife blocks are counter hogs. A simple solution is to store knives on the wall with a magnetic holder, but make sure you dry your knives thoroughly before storing and place them carefully on the strip.

Top-shelf idea
Open shelving — whether it’s set on the backsplash, mounted on a painted wall, or even free-hanging from the ceiling — can greatly increase your kitchen storage capabilities. Although you’ll want to choose eye-pleasing items to house there, the net result will be an increase in space down below.

Trash it
Made famous by Rachael Ray, the “garbage bowl” can help keep peels and trimmings under control as you cook. Scraps go in the bowl until they’re all ready for the trash or composting, and the counters stay free of debris.

Another way to look at it
Having a limited amount of kitchen real estate can inspire creative, and at times beautiful, solutions. Mounting a few shelves inside a window not only gains surface area for storage, but also captures a stunning backdrop for anything placed there.

Island idea
Make your kitchen island work a bit harder for you by adding shelves for books, or bars for hanging towels or utensils.

Hole in the wall
Even if your kitchen’s footprint is small, you may uncover a treasure trove of storage possibilities between the studs. In many cases, reclaiming this hidden wall space requires remodeling only this one area instead of the whole kitchen.

Corner pocket
Freestanding shelves like these from Beyond the Rack give you a clever, efficient way to use that often-neglected corner space.

Have your cake and eat it too
Use a simple cake stand to hold high-use items like salt, pepper and olive oil. If you need more room, you can easily transfer the stand to another spot in the kitchen.

Jar ingenuity
Ah, the all-purpose Mason jar. What a great idea: Affix the metal lids to the underside of a cabinet, and screw the jars on and off as you need them.

Author: BobVila.com  | By Tracy Anderson

The Best Ways To Settle Your Pet Into Your New Home

Moving can be a stressful and exciting process, and when moving with pets, your furry friend most certainly feels the stress and excitement as well. Pets don’t always respond well to a new environment, so it’s important to do whatever you can to ease your pet into your new house. Settling yourself and your pet into your new home may take time, but you can make it a smoother process by doing some research and planning. Here’s how you can create a stress-free transition for your beloved pooch or kitty.

Where To Put The Pet During The Move

During the actual move itself, it is best for your dog or cat if you can get them away from the action altogether. Ideally, it’s best if a neighbor or family member that your pet is familiar with can take the pet for the day. For long haul moves, some pet owners opt to take their dog or cat to a kennel for a few days to help them avoid the stress of the moving atmosphere. A slow and steady packing of boxes will also indicate a change to your pet, and if done over a longer period of time, can help them prepare for the upcoming change of scenery.

The Interior Introduction: Getting Your Pet Settled

Before the actual move of all the boxes, it might be a good idea to take your pet’s belongings to the new house first. Having some of their familiar items, such as toys, a kennel, and blankets, can help to ease the process of settling into the new home. You may also want to dedicate a room or part of the house as your pet’s sanctuary, where they can feel safe and secure while boxes and pieces of furniture are being moved into the new home. Ensure that you don’t switch your pet’s food too much around the time of the move, as this can exacerbate the effects of the change.

Some pet owners have found it effective to wait until the new house is unpacked and settled before introducing their pets to the home. This way, the pet can becoming acquainted with the new atmosphere without the chaos of movers, piled up boxes, and a stressed-out, scrambled owner! If using this method, you can keep your pet at the kennel of family member’s house until you are settled in.

The Surroundings: Exploring The New Neighborhood

If you have a dog, it is just as important to get him acquainted with the new neighborhood as it is to get him acquainted with the home itself. This is something you can also do well before the move; when preparing for a move, drive your dog over to your new neighborhood and let him explore where his new home will be. This way, when you arrive to introduce your dog to the home itself, he will already be familiar with the area, thereby reducing the stress of the new atmosphere in the house.

 

Moving is no easy feat, and it’s even more complicated when pets are involved. By following some of these simple steps and planning ahead, you can achieve a move that involves much less stress. Avoid the furry friend blues and introduce your pet to its new home in a gentle way.

Compliments of RealtyBlogContent.com

Finding Defects In Newly Constructed Homes For Sale

According to the Better Business Bureau, contractor problems are one of the most common consumer complaints.  With those kinds of statistics, buying newly constructed homes for sale calls for a knowledgeable individual.  Here are a few things you can do to make sure your contractor doesn’t end up as your complaint:

Know What Your Warranties Cover

There are two types of warranties.  One is called an express warranty, and is given to you by the contractor.  Usually, this warranty lasts between one to ten years, with one year being the most common.  It covers everything from cosmetic flaws to serious defects.

The second type of warranty varies depending on the state you live in.  It’s an implied warranty that lasts seven to ten years, stating that the residence has to be habitable.  To have your defect covered by this warranty, you have to be able to prove that it’s a health or safety hazard.

Find Real Defects

If you spot a defect, you need to find out whether it’s an acceptable imperfection or a real defect.  For instance, small cracks in the interior of new homes for sale are normal defects.  The only cracks that need to be repaired are those longer than 3/16 of an inch, according to the National Association of Home Builders’® performance guidelines.  In addition, hammer marks or nail pops only count if you can see them from more than six feet away.

Document Everything

Once you find a real defect, document everything.  Take photos and make detailed notes.  You may want to hire an independent inspector or structural engineer to give your house a full examination.

Compliments of RealtyBlogContent.com