Where the Water Comes From

Reading the wall before spending anything.

7 articles

• Condensation or Seepage — A Square of Foil Answers It

  Two problems that look identical on a damp wall, with completely different remedies, separated by a test that costs nothing.

• White Powder on the Wall — Efflorescence Is Evidence, Not Damage

  Scrubbing it off removes the evidence and changes nothing. It comes back because the water is still arriving.

• Window Wells — A Hole Beside the Foundation That Collects Rain

  A well is a deliberately excavated pit against the foundation. Whether that is a problem depends entirely on whether it drains.

• Water at the Wall-Floor Joint — The Cove Is a Gap, Not a Crack

  Homeowners try to caulk it. The water then finds the next weakest point, and now there are two.

• Basement Humidity — Under 50%, and Not by Opening a Window

  Opening the basement window on a warm humid day is the single most common way people make a damp basement worse.

• Water Coming Up Through the Slab — A Different Problem Entirely

  Perimeter seepage and sub-slab water look the same on a wet floor and need completely different systems.

• Where Is the Basement Water Coming From? — Four Sources, Four Fixes

  Buy the diagnosis before the solution. Waterproofing companies diagnose the problem they sell, and one of the four causes costs nothing to fix.