In this episode, Richard Comeras (aks “The Crackman”) discusses the common things that home inspectors routinely flag as foundational faults. These faults negatively affect home sellers by delaying closing or outright running interested buyers away from the home. Addressing foundation faults early will help you sell your home faster. Listen and enjoy!
Narrator: It’s time once again for the “Crack Man Podcast” hosted by A1 Foundation Crack Repair. We’re here with the Crackman himself, Rich Comeras. Rich has 30 years of experience in the construction industry and over 20 years’ experience as the founder and president of A1 Foundation and Crack Repair Inc. His podcasts provides expert basement water proofing, concrete repair, and preventative maintenance tips for homeowners and businesses. A1 Foundation’s excellent insight will help avert a disastrous flood within the basement, health problems associated with water infiltration within the basement, and protect your biggest investment….your home. The topic for today’s podcast: Is my wet basement caused by a rising water table or excess rain?
So Rich, It tends to rain a lot this time of year and this can cause water problems in the basement, no?
Crackman: It certainly can. A lot of people are calling us and asking us if this is due to the water table or is it the rain. It’s an interesting question. If you want to see if it’s the water table, what you can look at is sometimes, through cracks in the cement floor you will see water bubbling up. That tells you that it is a water table issue. Usually there is a clean out for a sewer. Sometimes there is a cutout around that pipe. If that has water in it, that also is a clue that you are in an area that does have a high-water table. What I mean by a water table is, they do this when they put septic systems in. They dig down with a machine and they seek where is the water table. The water table does not stay the same. It can rise and it can fall. That’s what we mean by the water table.
The question on whether it is the water table or the rain, a lot of times you’ll have wall cracks with leaks and it usually leaks where the floor and the wall meet. They’ll leak when it rains. This is clearly discernable from water table moisture.
In either case, the water table or the rain, the goal of the homeowner is to keep the water out of the house. If it’s a crack in the foundation it can be the floor or the bulkhead, there are all things that can be repaired. You may want to repair them, so you won’t have mold or mildew in the house and bring the value of the house down.
Narrator: OK, so if I understand you correctly, the ground is kind of like a sponge. Right? The sponge will soak up whatever water is underneath it and push that water up. So if the house is sitting on top of that sponge, and the sponge continues to absorb that water, it can actually push that water up into the bottom of the house. Is that right? Would that be a water table issue?
Crackman: That would be correct. That is a good example.
Narrator: So, the other problem that you talked about is where you have a problem above the grade, above the water table where water above the ground can seep down through gravity into cracks and things like that. Right?
Crackman: That’s right because water will always find the path of least resistance and often times that leads to the basement.
Narrator: All right, well I think that clears everything up. Thanks for clarifying the difference between a rising water table vs excess rain when it comes to a wet basement.
If you have a basement water problem and think you need a professional, or, if you’d like more information on foundation repair and waterproofing topics, please visit A1FoundationCrackRepair.com or call Rich at (866) 929-3171. Or you can email rich at info@a1foundationcrackrepair.com. Thanks for listening and keep that basement dry.