Water on Side Entering Basement

by Joseh C. Clark
(Ottawa Canada.)

How can we have water in our northwest side of our basement in mid winter for the 1st time in 50 yrs. Could it have anything to do with the Stone Patio that was installed at the back of our house last summer 2012?

It has always been dry down there. My wife noticed that the carpet was wet last week on that side of the basement. We had a Canadian/ Italian stone mason from MEDUSA STONE install the patio. Do we have to remove all of the flat stones,pea stone and sand to fix this problem?
Many Thanks
Joseph C.Clark

ANSWER

It’s hard to give an exact answer or opinion on your drainage problem without seeing any photos or knowing what the existing elevations are.

Usually water will enter a basement when it had nowhere else to go. It might be a low spot or the area may be pitched towards your house.
If the patio area was regarded, it could be causing the issue you are having, although I can’t say for sure.

The best thing to do would be to look at the area where it is coming into your basement and see if you can tell if that area is lower than spots around it. I would take an educated guess and say that it is. Assuming the area is lower than the surrounding land, you would then have to look at the patio to see if that was raised (or the area around it was raised) and causing water to pitch towards your house.

If so, you have a few options. Let’s see if you can solve this without relaying your patio.

1.Regrade the area away from your house. This can be pitched a great distance or you can create a swale.

2.Install a perforated pipe along the foundation of your house. The water will enter the pipe instead of going into your basement. This pipe needs to be pitched and the water led elsewhere.
I hope this gives you some direction. Let me know if I can be of further help.

Susan