How the Soil Surrounding Your Home Creates Basement Flooding

Basement flooding is a common issue, particularly in areas that are prone to rain and moisture, like East Tennessee. Water can come in from different points—the walls, floor, windows, hatchway entrances, and pipes.

Flooding often is due to the soil surrounding your home. As your home was constructed, excavated soil was used to fill in the gaps around the foundation. Known as “backfill,” this soil is loose and uncompacted. Meanwhile, the untouched soil around the perimeter is dense and hard-packed. The combination of these two types of soil creates a “bowl” effect. Since the backfilled soil is loose and more absorbent, it tends to collect water—right up against your foundation, which is the very place you don’t need it to accumulate!

As moisture collects in the soil, it expands and puts pressure on your foundation. This is called “hydrostatic pressure,” and it eventually causes water to enter your basement. The water will find any available pathway into your basement—cracks, openings around pipes, windows, or even directly through concrete, which is porous. The most common entry point is through the foundation wall-floor joint, which is where the floor and wall meet.

To fix this problem, Master Services will install a perimeter drainage system along the edge of the basement floor. This system will collect any water that enters your basement and direct it to a sump pump, which then diverts the water out of your home.

Our teams are trained to install a variety of waterproofing solutions, including drainage systems, sump pumps, dehumidifiers, windows, and more. Installation typically only takes two days, and you will immediately have the use of your basement following installation—so no waiting around!