Wet Basements & Sewer Back-ups

Wet basements can be caused by a variety of sources from condensation to sewer backup. The most common cause is penetration of the foundation by stormwater, usually because of poor roof or surface drainage. Hence, you can fix the vast majority of wet basements by redirecting roof and surface drainage.  Look around for clogged rain gutters, leaky downspouts and areas where the ground slopes down as it approaches your foundation. Fix these problems first before even trying to waterproof your basement. 

Fixing the drainage to take water away from your foundation addresses the source of problem, while surrounding your house with cement or other impermeable surfaces usually only delays the inevitable and can actually funnel water into your basement as these surfaces crack and wear.  Furthermore, controlling your drainage reduces the pressure placed upon existing sealing systems in your house, while installing impermeable surfaces may just pass the problem on to an adjacent wall.  A series of effective management tools to reduce stormwater around your house are described in 5 Things You Can Do.

Sewer Backups

Basement flooding due to a sewer backup can be a nasty surprise.  Toronto residents encountering basement flooding from sewer backups should contact Toronto Water service staff at 416-338-8888 for inspections. Emergency calls can be made 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, while non emergencies calls will be responded to the next day during business hours.  To reduce the chances of stormwater or combined sewer backups  occurring in your house, the best approach is to reduce the amount of stormwater going into the sewer.  A series of effective management tools to reduce stormwater around your house are described in 5 Things You Can Do.

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