Water where it should not be
Damp, drips and a wet basement — how to tell which one you have.
Water in a house arrives three ways: from above, from below, or from a pipe. Which one you have decides everything about who to call, and the three look surprisingly alike from inside — a damp patch on a wall is not self-explanatory.
From above is roof, gutters and flashing, and it usually tracks with the weather. From below is groundwater, and it usually tracks with the season and shows up at the bottom of walls. A pipe does neither: it is there in dry weather, it does not care what month it is, and it gets worse rather than better.
Two things are worth saying plainly. Damp that has been there a while may have brought mold with it, and that is its own job with its own testing — painting over it is not a repair. And if you cannot tell where the water is coming from, an inspection first is cheaper than a fix for the wrong problem.
What it breaks down into
In roughly the order worth doing them. Each one goes straight to a post with the job already described — change anything you like before it goes up.
- leak repairStart here if it is there in dry weather — that is a pipe, not the roof.
- gutter cleaningOverflowing gutters put water against the wall, which is the cheapest cause to rule out.
- basement waterproofingFor water arriving from below, which no amount of roof work will change.
- yard drainage and French drainsGround that slopes towards the house sends water to the same place every storm.
- sump pump installation and repairA pump that has stopped is the usual reason a dry basement stops being dry.
- mold inspection and testingBefore remediation, not after — what is there decides how much work it is.
The other guides, if this was not the one.