Basement Waterproofing College Park

It may be obvious from the name to say that College Park is a college town, but as the home of the University of Maryland, College Park has come over the years to be a symbol of knowledge not just for Maryland, but the entire country. This is the home of the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center, and, in more recent years, the new home of the National Archives. In a way, College Park has become an important place for people interested in specific disciplines of knowledge.

But for all the discoveries and information that are stored in College Park, residents often forget about the problems that may be occurring in their own homes, right under their own feet. This is especially ironic considering College Park’s special position as a weather prediction center, but while people on the surface are predicting rain, sleet or snow, many forget about the problems that can leak into their own homes. Unless, that is, they look into basement waterproofing in College Park.

A Small, Wet Problem

Homes with basements have a pretty straightforward structure that is easy to neglect. The basement itself is an excavated hole with a solid layer of concrete acting as both the basement floor and the foundation of the home, sitting on the dirt below it. Concrete walls and other supports are then built on top of this slab, and, in theory, this equally distributes the weight of the home built on top of it, to create a safe, stable place for years to come.

But concrete itself is porous, meaning that water can penetrate it, and dirt can move, especially given a long enough period of time. So even when concrete was poured over a seemingly solid base of dirt years ago, that dirt itself may move through erosion, or the foundation itself may move through various natural phenomenon. This can create the opportunity that water needs to get in. It may simply be through rain water collecting too close to foundation and leaking in. It may be water vapor passing through the basement walls and condensing into liquid once more in the cooler basement temperatures. Or it may be through cracks in the walls that provide a point of entry not just for water, but for pests like termites, ants and other insects.

Whatever the case, once the water gets in, basement waterproofing in College Park is going to be required to fix it.

How Water Hurts

Water may seem to be only a minor problem for a basement, but, given enough time, it can lead to much more severe crises that will need to be dramatically and expensively addressed. In most homes with basements, fuse boxes, furnaces and water heaters are all located in this area. An accumulation of water—or even just the heavy presence of water vapor in the air—can have a corrosive effect on the electrical components of this hardware if it is allowed to accumulate for long periods of time.

With enough dampness in a basement’s air, mold can eventually start forming sizable colonies. While the mold in and of itself is harmless—though unsightly—the real danger comes for the spores that mold constantly spew into the air. Depending on the type of mold that has infested a home, breathing in the spores can lead to illness and, potentially, serious lung infection. This can endanger every single person in the home, especially those sensitive to environmental contagions.

If cracks in the basement are sizable enough, large amounts of water can get in during spring melts or heavy snowfall that damage everything that’s in the basement. This is bad if you’re using your basement to store extraneous household items, but catastrophically expensive if you have a finished basement complete with drywall, carpeting and expensive electronics and other appliances.

All of these potential problems can be easily avoided with a little bit of foresight and the decision to go to an expert for basement waterproofing in College Park.

Fixing Problems Before They Begin

Just as there are many ways for water to get into a basement, there are many ways that basement waterproofing in College Park can be done.

An actual waterproofing procedure can be done on a home before any serious problems ever crop up, preventing the need for expensive repairs in the future. This can be achieved in several different ways, including waterproofing the area around and outside the basement, putting in barriers that can prevent both vapor and water itself from ever getting into the basement in the first place. This involves a trench being excavated around the house to “seal” it in this way, but this comprehensive procedure gets comprehensive results.

Another effective tactic for basement waterproofing in College Park is foundation repair. Cracks may be appearing in walls because parts of the foundation are moving while others are not. Many phenomenon can be responsible for this, from soil erosion under the foundation itself, to the foundation moving little by little every winter because of “frost heaving.” The many reasons for a foundation getting damaged can eventually bring down the value of a home at best, and leave it unsafe for habitation at worst, so getting this addressed is important.

And finally, for people that have already been victimized by a mold infestation, mold remediation is the first, most important step before the other problems are addressed. This can be a serious health hazard, in addition to a big negative against a home’s inherent value, so it should be quickly dealt with.

Water in your basement may not seem like a big deal at first, but it can be a symptom of much more serious problems for your home’s safety and value. Basement waterproofing in College Park can help, and AA Action Waterproofing are the experts in your area to do it. Contact us today to find out how we address your needs.