An Expensive Lesson in Basement Waterproofing

We recently learned an expensive lesson in why its important to pay attention to all the details of water protection for your home and basement. About two years ago we had a big rainstorm, receiving 6 inches of rain in just a couple of hours. At the time we didn't have any gutters on the house as we were getting the facia redone and didn't have the money to replace the broken gutters. So we ignored it for a while. Wrong decision.

Spending $1500 on gutters wasn't something I wanted to do, but I drug my feet too long. That 6 inch rainstorm was able to deposit all that water directly on the ground near our foundation. On the north side of our house we were the most vulnerable. We had seen that the wallpaper on the north basement wall was damp, but didn't think much beyond it. We setup a dehumidifier and fans and called it good. Months later we realized that the light carpet was becoming a rust color in spots. We started pulling away furniture and found streaks and clumps of black mold along that wall, creeping up the furniture and on the carpet. I was upset with myself for letting it go that long.

Our cleanup efforts were only successful in drying the problem and preventing further mold growth. However we just essentially walked away from the basement, used it a lot less and didn't do much else to clean it up. For some reason we were motivated to find a carpet cleaner and get an estimate. It turns out the whole basement could be cleaned for about $100 including t

e stairway leading down there. Incredible. Of course we booked the cleaning crew and they'll be here in a couple of days. I'm excited to see what they can do, although I was warned that the dark impression lines filled with rust and mold from where the heavy furniture was sitting would probably not be cleanable 100%. That's fine, anything is better than what we have.

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