When your home gets flooded from a heavy downpour or burst pipes, your basement is the first place that will suffer. This is for the most obvious reason, the basement is the closest to the ground and where the water reaches first before spreading to the entire house.
But sometimes water doesn’t enter your basement through floods and damaged pipes. Wet climatic conditions and humid air can also be the cause.
Whatever the case, it’s easy to notice the signs of damage, and you can fix the problem before it wreaks havoc in your entire home. Waterproofing your home is the ultimate solution to barring water damage from destroying your home.
But before you start the process, you must understand the signs of water damage in your basement. This article has eight signs of damage you need to look for when waterproofing your basement.
1. Moldy Spots
Molds develop in wet areas, and any signs of them are a clear indication of possible water damage. Obvious signs of areas likely to encourage mold growth may look green, black, brown, or yellow.
You can also notice a dump and musty feeling in the room which are some of the causes of mold growth in the basement. Once you notice a spot with these colors or damp smell, it will only take a matter of 24 to 48 hours before you see mold. Mold can sometimes look white or powdery.
A wet surface will encourage a faster mold bloom, and you won’t be able to control it. Molds can grow anywhere as long as they get an encouraging environment. When looking for mold, you can see them grow on walls, floor, wood, or organic materials.
2. Cracks Are Also Signs of Damage
Water puts up too much pressure on your building that even the strongest ones can bow down. Once this happens, you’ll start noticing some cracks on the walls, floor, or foundation.
While any size of crack can be a sign of danger, you should pay more attention to wide cracks. Shifting or displaced walls can also show a sign of danger looming in your home, and you don’t want to take chances. Leaks in the ceiling can also go all the way to the walls or floors causing wetness.
If left unattended, cracks can provide a pathway for water into your basement and the entire home. So, when waterproofing, ensure you seal all those cracks and restore the safety in your home.
3. Deteriorating Materials
Water and moisture can cause your building materials to deteriorate over time. When they continue being exposed to moisture, they can weaken further and, finally, breakdown.
Some signs of material damage include paint peel off and flakes. Pay attention to signs of material damage in your home and do the necessary before the problem gets out of hand. You should also be careful with your inspection because not all deterioration happens due to water damage, sometimes it’s old age.
4. Sinking or Swelling Floors
Sinking or swelling floors are obvious signs of serious damage caused by water in basements. However, you won’t notice this problem immediately. Once your home’s foundation is damaged, your floor will start to sink or swell.
Sinking floors not only attract a lot of money for repairs but can also put your entire family at risk. You need a structurally-sound foundation to restore the stability of your basement. Work with basement waterproofing professionals as soon as possible to clean up the water and do the repairs.
5. Stains and Discoloration
Walls, floors, and items in your basement eventually start to discolor due to water damage. Sometimes the discoloration appears in the form of stains that are typically yellowish-brown in color. You should not take even the most harmless stain for granted because as innocent as it may look, stains can pose serious problems to your home.
Sometimes the discoloration or the stains are not necessarily a sign of water damage. If you can’t identify dangerous stains yourself, call a professional water damage inspection and restoration company to do the checking for you.
6. Efflorescence Signs
The term efflorescence means flowering out. When you see those grayish or whitish ash-like substances on the floor, this is a sign of mold development. The substances can also appear chalky or can sparkle.
These substances on your wall appear because of salt deposits as a result of evaporating water. You should address these immediately before it leads to further damage hiking your basement waterproofing budget.
7. Odors
When water starts to get its way into your basement, it will get wet and damp. A damp surface has some weird smell that you’ll probably notice when you enter the room. Any abnormal or persistent damp smell should be a sign that water is slowly entering the basement.
Consider the situation serious if the smell doesn’t go away even after ensuring proper ventilation or dehumidifying the area. Sometimes the odor can result from the growth of mold bringing with it that musty smell. You should immediately waterproof your basement and get rid of the smell.
8. Spalling Surface
When water gets trapped inside your walls beneath the concrete, it will struggle to move out, especially when it gets hot. When this happens, you’ll notice some weird things such as peels on the wall or floor, pop-off, and flaking away.
Like other signs, spalling sometimes occur in old homes and may not be a sign of water damage. Consider the age of your home before concluding that spalling signs are damages caused by water. In worst-case scenarios, spalling can cause building destruction; hence it needs to be checked for and repaired immediately.
Don’t Wait to Be Sorry
These are the signs of damages you’re likely to notice in your basement when water starts to creep in. However, you don’t need to see those signs before you can take measures of keeping your basement safe. If the damage gets out of hand, it will cost you a lot of money to repair, and you don’t want that.
One of the best things to do if you notice these signs is to call a professional. Our waterproofing services will help ensure your basement doesn’t suffer any damages as a result of water getting inside. Simply contact us and let us do the rest of the work.
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