Moisture and Water Problems, Part I

The basement moisture and water has been a problem since I moved into the house. During the first winter spring melt in 2005, I found water in the carpet but it smelled like cat and I believed my cat was urinating there. So I turned on my dehumidifier and dried the area out after treating and cleaning it. Again in 2006, I thought carpet felt damp but was not sure and could not find where if any water was getting into the basement.

It was not until the winter 2007-2008 when we had 100.1 inches of snow that I did find the problem. The carpet was soaked and there was a low area under the carpet where the water was pooling. The carpet was also acting like a wick and pulling more water into the house. So I torn out the carpeting and threw it away except some of the padding which I use to keep cut worms from destroying my broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and eggplants. So now I finely could determine where the water was coming into the house. The finished part of the basement is the only area where water leaks into the basement. This area is my designated sewing and craft room. Once I torn out all the carpeting and moved the furniture to a dry area, I put on the heat and dehumidifier to dry the place out again. During the summer of 2008, I raised the ground level around the southwest corner of the house since then this area has been dry. I hoped my problems would be fixed.

Unfortunately, during the melt in 2009 I had more water leaking into the southwest side of the sewing room. It does get discouraging when you keep trying to fix the problem and the same problem just shows up in a new place. The source of the water is mostly likely from the snow piled around the front of the house. The snow piles were packed about 10 feet from the fountain. I starting looking around the fountain and found a low area on the southwest side filling up with water under the front porch. At the time I believe the snow was piled far enough to drain away from the house but obliviously they were not. I will need to fill in the low area under the porch but that will not be done until I get to stripping and painting the front of the house. At that time, I will need to remove and replace the lattice skirting around the porch, this will provide the needed access under the porch. For now, I decide the best way to keep the water from coming into the basement was to change how I piled up the snow. Last winter I piled the snow father away and downhill from the house. I made it through this spring melt without any water but this was just one winter. I will have to wait several more thaws before I believe the problem is over.

Sorry, there are no pictures. I was hoping to find some but my basement is a mess since all stuff is stacked up and right now it is impossible to find anything.