What Happens If I Ignore My Wet Basement?

What You Need to Know About The Problems Caused By A Wet Basement

Wet basements are more than just an annoyance for property owners to deal with–whether your basement is flooding during heavy storms or has a lingering humidity problem, you’re rolling the dice on both health and structural issues!

Read on to learn more about what happens if you ignore a wet basement, and how the problems that appear will affect you and your property if not addressed.

Wet Basements Create Health Risks

A wet basement is fertile ground for a variety of health risk-causing invaders to grow and infest your home–mold, dust mites, bacteria, and excess humidity are just the most common problems to arise from a basement with moisture issues.

• Mold: Whether it’s black mold, Aspergillus, or Penicillium, no mold should be growing in your basement. Some mold species are even known for being toxic and are notorious for aggravating symptoms for those with allergies and/or asthma.

• Dust Mites: These microscopic creatures can’t survive without moisture, but if there’s enough humidity in your basement, dust mites breed fast. Dust mite particles are small and light enough to be spread through the air, triggering allergic reactions and asthma attacks in those sensitive to dust mites.
• Bacterial Growth: Bacteria love to grow where there is water and organic matter, whether on your basement walls or floor. A wet basement means bacteria.
• Rodents: Rats and mice look for dark and damp basements where they can find food, water, and shelter. However, the urine and feces they leave behind can harbor diseases like Hantavirus and Salmonella. And when the rodents go foraging from your basement to other parts of your home, they carry these diseases into your living space.
• Excess Humidity: Humidity buildup in your basement, just by itself, also directly impacts your health – it makes it harder for your body to cool down, leaving you sweating, and it compounds allergy issues caused by the other problems we’ve listed.

Whether your basement floods during heavy storms or has lingering humidity, you’re putting your health and structural health at risk!

-Steve Karlik, Owner & Founder of Blue Umbrella Waterproofing

Wet Basements Create Structural Problems

Wet basements can also directly and indirectly create structural problems affecting your floor joists and other wooden supports, causing foundation damage.

1. Wood Rot: A type of fungi that contributes to the decomposition of wood matter, wood rot happens when there’s enough moisture present to activate the fungal spores and begin the growth cycle. Wood rot can ruin wooden floor joists, wall supports, and other wooden structures in your basement, leading to costly repairs and dangerous structural weaknesses.
2. Termites: Termites cause an estimated $5 billion a year in home damages, and the common subterranean termite requires a certain level of moisture to survive, making wet basements attractive. If they decide to settle in your basement, they’ll tunnel into your wooden structures, weakening them and endangering the support of the rest of your home.
3. Bowing, Tilting, or Shearing Foundation Walls: If your basement is getting wet, there may be moisture or water leaking through cracks created by foundation wall movement, such as bowing, tilting, or shearing. This wall movement is created by hydrostatic pressure, outside water pressing against your foundation.
   

Keep Your Home Healthy and Dry with Blue Umbrella

The key to preventing all these problems is simple: keeping your basement dry! Blue Umbrella Waterproofing is the licensed basement waterproofing contractor that goes above and beyond for the communities of New Jersey.

Along with long-lasting waterproofing systems, Blue Umbrella also offers foundation repair solutions to protect your home. What’s more, we proudly stand by our work with a transferable lifetime warranty.

Comprehensively protect your basement and foundation with your structural repair guys at Blue Umbrella Waterproofing! Contact us for a free inspection and estimate!