Water damage also affects the appraised value of your home, so if you're thinking about getting the capital you've earned on your property, you might want to learn more about leaks. Home appraisals take into account structural problems, such as damp basements. Most of the time, you'll find that the value of your appraised home is lower than what you'd get without a damp basement. The value of a house with a damp basement can drop by up to 10-25%.
In the March issue of “The Weakest Link” of Builder Magazine, 19% of buyers looking to buy a new home admit that they don't want an “advantage.” The advantage of buying a home with a damp basement is the opportunity to negotiate a bargain price. When I enter an unfinished basement, I look for water problems. A good sign is that everything is raised off the ground. In addition, there are water stains on the underside of the concrete.
Water enters through the foundations. The most effective way to protect your basement from water that seeps from outside the foundation is to install an internal drain and sump pump system. A basement waterproofing contractor can repair foundation leaks and provide solutions to keep the basement dry, such as a drain, a sump pump and a dehumidifier. If the foil test showed that water penetrates through the basement walls and leaves them damp, seal the inside of the walls with high-quality waterproof paint, such as DRYLOK White Extreme waterproofing agent (available at Home Depot).
In truth, it's not uncommon to find family members who have aggravated respiratory problems, allergies, and headaches due to problems that come from the basement. If this is the first case of water problems in the basement, the first thing to check is that the surface water drains along the foundation walls. Damp basements present many hazards, such as deteriorating the overall structure and foundation of the house, contributing to the dangerous growth of mold, damaging furniture and personal belongings, and other unpleasant problems. The most common cause of basement leaks is the pressure created by water in the soil surrounding the base.
The appraiser would need to find houses that were flooded in the past or were damaged by water in the past and the problem was fixed. Fire and water restoration companies are regulated by the appropriate state's Department of Consumer Affairs, usually the state's contractor licensing board. Because these spaces are so often used as storage, a damp basement can ruin irreplaceable items such as photo albums, antiques, and family heirlooms. Epoxy paint dries coarsely and hard, providing the necessary durability that goes hand in hand with maintaining the basement floor.
Allowing water to remain present in the basement can increase the humidity level throughout the house, causing unpleasant conditions and causing air conditioning systems to work longer. Water entering a location or just the outer foundation wall indicates surface water problems. If a window well is not installed properly or if the drain is clogged, the window well may fill up with water. But the small cracks found all over the concrete cause water to start oxidizing the steel, which then expands and cracks the concrete.
You can also try to raise the temperature in the basement, as warmer air will prevent moisture from condensing on cold surfaces.
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