Woe is me..?
Question:Oh Woe is me!
Woe is me!
My carpet is as wet as it can be
Down came the rain
Our carpenter went insane
This problem he had never met
And the water has begun to set
Will you see if you can help me?
Ok bad poetry, but a severe problem.
Water keeps getting into our house whenever it rains hard. We have done everything that our carpenter has suggested, but it has not solved anything. Any suggestions?
Answers:
Two words: French Drains.
Edit:
French drains: a drainage system built to divert water away from a building. They surround the building's perphery. Depending if you have a basement or not will determine how deep the drain will need to be. Some systems are more elaborate than others, but a contractor needs to determine what system is best for your particular situation. Look in the Yellow Pages in Basement Waterproofing. Here is the link: I've searched for MY city; Pittsburgh, Pa, but all you have to do is change the location (on the left) and search again.
http://www.yellowpages.com/sp/yellowpage...
http://coultersystems.net/frenchdrains.n...
(this one is a very elaborate system)
Not enough info. Is the house on a slab, or a foundation? Is the water dripping from above, or seeping from below? What kind of roof? Do you have gutters? Which story is getting wet?
You didn't mention where the water is coming from. Is it a roof leak or is it coming in around a window or door or is it a basement leaking? Please provide more details, but if the roof is leaking I would suggest hiring a good roofer instead of a carpenter.
Not really enough data on where the water is coming from, but
if you have landscaping timbers around the outside of your exterior walls they may be daming up the water run off and its seeping into your house under the framing. Just a thought.
In the meantime buy a portable fan, pull back the carpet and really dry it or your gonna have mold.
Not enough info about the below grade construction BUT, I would suggest that is you think it might be drainage related, that you place a hose in the closest downspout to the leaks and let them run. This will give you a good idea if the water from the roof is being added to the leaks.
If you can't get water that way, first are the downspouts tied into drainage? Are they dumping water into the foundation?
If the water does not come in from the downspouts when testing, try running a hose for a couple hours at the foundation near the leak and monitor.
There are products that can be applied to foundation walls from the interior such as hydrolic cements that could help seal the foundations.
Once you rule out roofing and siding the downspouts and foundations would be the logical place to look. Good luck to you.
I've run into this problem before. Check the mortar on your bricks. The heavy rain is able to push through cracks and it flows into the house that way.
If you find cracked mortar call a good mason to repair it.
Hope this helps.
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