We just bought and moved into our home two months ago here in central NJ, the home is about 30 years old with a block basement (partial basement with a crawl space). We pretty quickly noticed several water problems with our basement. During the first heavy rain, we noticed that pretty much all the downspouts of the house were clogged and overflowing. And low and behold, right after that rain we had water in the crawl space. I also noticed a few water stain on the well. We cleaned up the water and got the downspouts fixed just in time for Irene.
Then Irene came a few days later. During the storm, I noticed that in one corner of the house the downspout was still not working correctly and overflowed. And that seemed to be same corner of the house through which we got water in the crawl space again. In addition, the power went out, and the sump pump did not work. The basement did not flood, but the sump put pretty much filled up to the very top edge and the basement walls got really wet. I also noticed water leaking into the basement through two cracks between some blocks. In addition, there were some big water stains on some wall, and also the bottom of the basement walls got pretty wet pretty much all around the basement.
Now it really sucks that we have to deal with this so shortly after our move. The sellers of course mentioned nothing into their disclosure, and the basement was dry during our inspection. We had a recent heavy rain again with the fixed downspout, and the basement stayed dry. But the walls and floor in the crawl space showed some sign of wetness again, such as water stains.
So now I don't even know where to start. I am afraid if I call a basement waterproofing company, they will come and try to charge me large amounts of money to install drainage or waterproof the basement. But I suspect that there are some issues with the outside of the house that could address the water issues more directly. For instance, the soil behind the house does not seem to have enough slope and gets really soggy during heavy rains. In addition, the previous owners installed a wooden deck on what looks like a concrete slab, but I am not sure where and how well it drains.
So what is the best way to get some idea on what needs to be done? Should I hire a structural engineer to get some advice first and hire the right contractors from there? Or should I got with a waterproofing company and let them handle it?
Any advice on whether I could go after the previous home owners? Should they have know about the issues, or can they just claim ignorance? How much of a burden of proof is on me?
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Then Irene came a few days later. During the storm, I noticed that in one corner of the house the downspout was still not working correctly and overflowed. And that seemed to be same corner of the house through which we got water in the crawl space again. In addition, the power went out, and the sump pump did not work. The basement did not flood, but the sump put pretty much filled up to the very top edge and the basement walls got really wet. I also noticed water leaking into the basement through two cracks between some blocks. In addition, there were some big water stains on some wall, and also the bottom of the basement walls got pretty wet pretty much all around the basement.
Now it really sucks that we have to deal with this so shortly after our move. The sellers of course mentioned nothing into their disclosure, and the basement was dry during our inspection. We had a recent heavy rain again with the fixed downspout, and the basement stayed dry. But the walls and floor in the crawl space showed some sign of wetness again, such as water stains.
So now I don't even know where to start. I am afraid if I call a basement waterproofing company, they will come and try to charge me large amounts of money to install drainage or waterproof the basement. But I suspect that there are some issues with the outside of the house that could address the water issues more directly. For instance, the soil behind the house does not seem to have enough slope and gets really soggy during heavy rains. In addition, the previous owners installed a wooden deck on what looks like a concrete slab, but I am not sure where and how well it drains.
So what is the best way to get some idea on what needs to be done? Should I hire a structural engineer to get some advice first and hire the right contractors from there? Or should I got with a waterproofing company and let them handle it?
Any advice on whether I could go after the previous home owners? Should they have know about the issues, or can they just claim ignorance? How much of a burden of proof is on me?
Any advice is greatly appreciated.