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Any water in the basement means you cannot remodel it yet
There is one catch, though. It may be the catch that caught previous owners: water. You cannot finish your basement until all of your water infiltration problems are gone. Water infiltration can range from that heart-stopping flood that reaches your chest to the trickle that slowly eats away at the bottom edge of the drywall.
Clothes washers can leak from several sources
Sure, washers often comically foam water and suds through the door. But more often, it's the discharge pipe or supply-water pipes that will leak.
When water heaters age, they are notorious for springing leaks
Regularly check supply pipes to your water heater for corrosion.
Not many people know that furnaces can leak water, too
Not much water will leak from furnaces. Most often, it will be leaking from the condensing box, located inside the furnace.
Basements are a veritable freeway of pipes, all of which can leak
The most inconspicuous place to hide pipes is under floor joists and inside of walls. Large black pipes shown here are drain pipes. Smaller pipes are fresh-water supply pipes. Both can leak.
Your sump pump might be malfunctioning
Sump pumps are meant to be continually electrified, turning on when ground water reaches a certain height. If the power is off (often due to a flipped circuit breaker), the pump cannot turn on. Houses that have a perennial problem with seeping water will have sump pumps; it's just a fact of life for many homeowners.
The dreaded sewer backup will be obvious
You will smell any sewer leaks. Of course, they have that telltale greenish brown appearance. Check your sewer clean-out, as shown here.
Downspouts are enemy #1 of dry basements
Downspouts positioned alongside exterior walls will force water straight down to the foundation, leaking into the basement. Shown here is a diversion block, which sends water away from the foundation.
Overflowing gutters can sluice water next to the foundation wall
Blocked gutters are more than unsightly: they can quickly force water alongside the house, down the foundation, and into the basement. Here you see a sheet of water pouring over the side with almost as much force as a downspout. Even water that trickles over the side will have the residual effect of moving water into your basement.
Soil and lawn graded down toward the house will send water into basements
Any soil within several feet of the house that slopes down toward the house will send water toward the foundation and then into the basement. The pictured house has a nicely graded buffer of about 30" around the perimeter, so that water drains away from the house.
Bubbled paint and red stains mean the basement wall leaks
Shown here is a leaky basement wall that has been painted over. It doesn't take very long for the paint to bubble up and develop stinky brown stains. This means that the water is coming directly through the wall.
Unbelievably, moisture slowly seeps up through concrete basement floors
This type of moisture isn't apparent; it ever so slowly and invisibly wicks upward through concrete basement floors and wicks again into your flooring. That's why you want to look for basement-friendly flooring such as vinyl, ceramic or porcelain tiles, engineered wood, or even the concrete itself. Whatever you do, first do a moisture-check of your basement floor.
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