Moisture Meters and Basement Questions

[An HI]

Originally Posted by jbraun

You need to read what you pasted; it talks about the use of control joints.

Do not get me confused with the typical home inspector, who has just read stuff out of a book. Growing up in construction and learning by the old timers can teach a person things no books can.

Your point is?

[James E. Braun, CMI]

Lets phrase this decision in a different way. How many older homes do you know of where the foundation is not cracked or is not leaking? I, myself, know plenty.
The notion of all basements will or are cracked and/or leaking is false.

[James H. Bushart]

I am amused by the argument that an old basement that does not presently leak is some sort of definitive proof that it will never leak. I would advise one to be wary of any such advice that might appear in a home inspection report.

Eventually ... sometimes in 9 years and other times in 99 years or even more ... the natural forces that are seeking to equalize the pressure on all sides of a basement's walls will win.

Your best hope as a home owner is that it will not happen during your time. There are measures that can be taken to prolong it ... but the soil and the water will eventually win.

Murphy's Law suggests that it will happen shortly after your expensive basement finishing improvements.

[John Stevens]

Thanks for all the advice so far. I guess it is difficult for me to go one way or another because i do not have enough experience with leaky basements but then who does necessarily. Obviously you guys see thousands of homes a year so it's nice to get a feel from the experts.

As for my home inspector, i will obviously take all advice but i cannot see how he will alleviate my concerns. The basement is completely finished so he will see nothing from the inside except for an obvious water stain here or there. On the outside, well besids downspouts / grading same thing i'm not sure what he can tell me.

It doesn't make me feel better that the house backing on to mine has at minimum half his yard draining onto mine. The basement has leaked that's a fact. Will it leak again. No one knows that. So basically it comes down to if it leaks again, what kind of a hit money-wise would i be taking. In addition can waterproofing from the outside be done yourself. I imagine that the costliest portion of the job involves the manual labor to dig around the home. If you "fix" the holes and / or cracks and place a membrane around the exterior, will that improve the situation? I believe membranes around the foundation wall are standard in provinces like Ontario but they are definitely not standard here in Alberta. Here are some simple links i pulled off Google. I'm not claiming these work but if anyone has an opinion, that would be great.

http://www.superseal.ca/dimpledmembrane.html

http://www.appliedtechnologies.com/h...rproofing.html

Again do not assume from my questions that i want to "cheapen out" by doing the work myself. I just trust myself than most contractors out there.

[James E. Braun, CMI]

Bushart,
You are twisting my words again. Where did I say a basement will never leak?
My statement on old basements was meant as, if a basement is 60 years old and is not leaking and cracking, it most likely will not leak or crack in the future. I do not make blank statements that I cannot prove, unlike you.

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

Does the home have a sump pump .
If not you might avoid dampness if you put one in deep and have the pump keep the water level 6 inches below the bottom of the basement floor .
This with a dehumidifier might be a good idea ... Roy

[James E. Braun, CMI]

In my area, you can legally make your neighbor divert his water off your land. He can actually be held responsible for damages if you can prove his excessive amount of water is causing your basement to leak. I have been involved in cases where a city or county department diverted water onto a homeowner's property causing the basement to leak, and the homeowners won the cases.

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

The home behind mine was built 32 years ago and their sump end came out of the ground 8 feet on my property .
I went to the town bylaw officer and he asked me to approach them and see if they would move it .
If not he said he would get involved .
I approached them and WOW! they went ballistic and said it had been ok for 32 years and they would not do any thing about it .
I went and got 8 feet of 1/4 inch plastic tubing a can high expansion of spry foam .
Put the tub on the spray foam fed it up the sump drain and turned on the foam slowly pulling out the tube.
I have had no water on my property for two years now .

[John Stevens]

The house does have a sump pump.

Unfortunately, Strathcona County (where the new house is located) has this standard.

"Lots shall be designed to drain from back to front except under extreme
cases where the Developer can satisfy the County Engineer that back to
front drainage is not technically feasible. If an alternate system is required
it must be designed so that surface water crosses the fewest lots possible in
its path to the street. No more than 2 lots shall be crossed. In extreme
cases the County Engineer may permit more than 2 lots to be crossed
provided a concrete drainage swale and easement are established. The

potential problem areas shall be identified in the Design Brief."

The bolded text above is the problem. This is apparently allowed in my sleeper community of 80,000 people. The adjoining City of Edmonton (population around 900,000 people) Standards state the following:

Alleyless subdivisions
Rear to front drainage is preferred in alleyless subdivisions. Split drainage in alleyless
subdivisions will be permitted only if all of the following conditions are met:

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it is not feasible to achieve rear-to-front drainage due to extreme natural topography;

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the receiving downstream lot has an overall grade of 3.0% or more;

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there is no concentration of flow from upstream lots to downstream lots;

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only one lot drains to another lot;

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runoff from the roof of the upstream lot is directed to a storm service or the upstream lot’s
grading is designed with the ridge as close to the rear property line as possible.
In situations where split drainage may be problematic due to the above conditions not being met, the use of a swale for the interception of split drainage and its conveyance to a public right of way will be permitted.

Again the bolded section is a good standard to have but my community does not have this in their standards. Supposedly the only arsenal i have from the house behind us is that their roof leaders are supposed to go to the fromt of their house. They too must have a sump pump but whether their sump pump drains to their fron i don't know.

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

I have inspected three homes that have exterior sump pumps and they do a good job .
http://www.ehow.com/list_6829702_adv...mp-pumps_.html

[Dan Bowers, CMI]

I cain't speak fureign langurgaes. What did that guy from Michigan say???????????

[Curtis Hildebrand]

I think our unmoderated guest needs to be moderated. Just sayin'

[Curtis Hildebrand]

John

We don't need this on NACHI. If you have a problem with NACHI members, Jesus or anyone else, there are channels to go through. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but let's be serious. Your outrage on the message board is not appreciated.