How Much Does Basement Waterproofing Cost?

Basements built low on the ground are notoriously damp places of your homes and buildings. Nothing ruffles landowners more than a wet basement. Moisture that finds its way down there should never be taken lightly. What just seems to be a tiny puddle around your base may sooner become a cause of botheration for you.

A humid basement can potentially:

1. Erode the pillars of your foundation
2. Bring about damage to your precious items
3. Stir up mold growth
4. Scale your home’s market value down

Before giving you a rough estimate of basement waterproofing cost, let us first highlight what causes moisture in your basement.

Causes of dampness:

Basements are prone to take on water from the outside. Needless to say, it’s better to attend to prevailing water issues in your home before the situation gets out of control.

Here are given a couple of reasons for a leaky basement.

1. Inside high humidity condenses on cold, dry surfaces (walls, windows) when relatively warm, moist air hits them.
2. Due to flooding, the below-grade water table may rise giving water easy access to your basement.
3. Saturation of surrounding soil puts great hydrostatic pressure due to which water intrusion may occur.
4. Any basement leak, cracks, and crevices can welcome water in.
5. Water that drains toward your foundation due to improper grading or landscaping allows seepage.
6. Due to clogged gutters and inefficient drainage systems, water makes its way into your basement.

Have you ever dealt with a soggy basement? If not, then you might be looking for a solution to a damp basement. Knowing how can you keep your low ground area dry will bring you peace and happiness. But how much will basement waterproofing cost? Keep reading to learn how much will you have to pay to make your basement dry.

Depending on the extent of wetness, a homeowner may expect basement waterproofing cost in the range of $2000 to $6000. If more comprehensive issues are to be addressed, the cost may climb to $10000 or even higher.

Keep in mind, you can come across humid basements in both old and new homes. While builders take necessary measures to waterproof basements during construction, even then you cannot always avoid water issues. This is because a house typically settles over time and this creates cracks and gaps in the walls.

Upon the saturation of soil present around your foundation, water can find its way into your basement through these cracks. Thus, moisture seepage in basements is an alarm for costly repairs.

You are not the only one facing wet issues at your premises. Don’t worry! We’re here to tell you one of the most effective means of dealing with water damage along with its costing.

Here you go!

How to Deal with A Damp Basement?

The only way to effectively deal with the water infiltration issue is basement waterproofing. It lets water out of your home and doesn’t allow it to seep in through the cracks. Furthermore, basement waterproofing can be carried out either interiorly or exteriorly. Internal methods include waterproof barrier installation whereas the exterior method highlights the excavation around your base.

When it is a matter of moisture build-up, you may wonder how can you waterproof basements and how much does basement waterproofing cost?

On average a homeowner may have to pay around $4200 for waterproofing but this amount is variable. For thorough waterproofing, you may be charged $3 to $9 per square foot. The cost can vary depending on the magnitude of a basement leak. For instance, are you the one requiring excavation, or waterproofing walls both from the inside and the outside, or installing extras such as sump pump, downspout, etc., or all?

When it’s all about dampness in your basement, there is no quick way to fix it all. Based on the severity and the source of damage (external or internal), an appropriate basement waterproofing method shall be used.

If you are someone looking for how to cure dampness, you might be wondering what products are available that claim to waterproof your basement wall and floor.

Concrete waterproofing

The basement walls can be interiorly waterproofed with a coat of concrete mix. This can cost you between $3.53 and $5.25 per square foot. This thick concrete coating has shown to keep moisture at a bay.

Besides, you can also make use of acrylic/epoxy mixture that tends to provide durability. It improves the life of your concrete walls and floors. This treatment may cause you $3 to $12 per square foot depending on a number of variables.

Silicate sealants

Sealants are durable, elastic, and easier to paint over. They are applied to fill gaps and cracks up in your foundation and make sure nothing gets through.

Silicate sealers penetrate the concrete surface when they are applied. These sealers initiate a chemical reaction with the concrete and form a stable, water-resistant barrier. This coat doesn’t trap moisture inside the wall, rather it allows water to escape.

Taking the cost of professional labor into account, applying silicate sealers to stop water seepage costs $3 to $7 per square foot.

Basement waterproofing paint

Sealing your basement with a suitable masonry waterproof product keeps the moisture away. It is, in fact, a barrier of impervious material to keep water from seeping.

This can be a DIY task or can be applied by a pro for $0.61 to $0.87 per square foot. A professional service will include cleaning the area, peeling the existing paint off, and evenly coating the wall with waterproof paint.

When the paint dries, a watertight bond will be formed which will prevent water from invading. This is how walls are made interiorly waterproofed.

Interior Drainage System:

Sealing cracks is merely a temporary solution to a basement leak. However, sealants can deteriorate over time by the water that is pushed in from the outside.

For channeling water out of your basement, an interior drainage system plays a pivotal role.  It is the best and permanent solution to wetness.

Sump pump

A very good strategy to resist moisture is pre-emptive pumping, where a sump pump is installed by digging a trench on your basement floor. The pump then expels water through a pipe a small distance away from your foundation.

To fit a new sump pump, you’ll have to pay $500-$1100. Additionally, the plumbers charge $45-$65/hour. Sump pump installation fixes a lot of your basement water issues.

French drain

A French drain is a trench filled with perforated pipe and gravel and it serves to divert the flow of water away from your house. Thus, it is installed beneath the surface.

How does it work?

Water is captured into a gravel-filled trench, then into the pipe located at the base of the trench. The pipe empties the water a safe distance from your living space.

A plumber agrees to fit in an interior French drain for $50 to $60 per linear foot or about $300 to $1500 on average.

Install gutter and downspouts

Gutters and downspouts catch rainwater and direct it away from your base to keep your building from acquiring any water-related damage to your walls, roof, landscape, etc.

A downspout is a pipe that runs vertically and is connected to a gutter channel for proper drainage. If you face drainage issues, you should get downspout extensions installed to carry runoff far away from your foundation in a steady fashion.

The right way to drive water away from your home can help prevent moisture accumulation. You may expect to spend $500-$$1100 for installing gutters and downspouts for routing water appropriately. Most homeowners pay under $1000 for this very job.

Landscape grading

Water if instead of getting drained is accumulating in your property- is a real problem. You may end up paying a good amount –$900-$3000– for re-sloping your lawn. Re-sloping means reshaping or grading your home’s lawn for directing water away.

Standing water around your residence is not good in any way. It can be removed by adding a slope to your yard.

The cost depends highly on the fact that how much you need to change the direction of your current slope to level your yard.

How can this be done?

Proper landscaping can be achieved by creating berms (mounds of soil) and swales (trough-like depression) to capture runoff and to redirect it far away.

What to avoid?

The following should be avoided when waterproofing basements.

1. Refrain from using plastic for waterproofing basement walls. Plastic-like material strips off easily due to which moisture can find its way back.
2. In the case of French drains, do not use limestone to backfill the trench. Limestone is ill-famed for reducing drainage capabilities as it can clog the drainage system. Therefore, it is advised to use gravel instead.

Conclusion:

For homeowners, a basement leak becomes bigger of a problem. Water entering your foundation can critically harm the stability of your foundation which in turn can collapse anytime under its weight. From endangering structural integrity to favoring profuse mold growth, moisture intrusion can wreak havoc altogether.

Irrespective of your physical location, one of the best and permanent fixes to dampness is waterproofing basements.

Waterproofing basements require more than simply plugging the problematic spots. Instead, not only you have to locate the source of a basement leak but also have to inspect your home periodically for foundation issues. Don’t fret about basement waterproofing cost. Nothing is more important than a healthier environment.

Invest to stay protected!