The Spring ReThaw and Your Basement

The first day of spring is still more than a week away but here we are, ankle deep in spring muck. It’s raining, it’s snowing, it’s raining again, it’s icing? My husband fell in our front yard twice this weekend because of random ice patches, even though it was also too warm to wear a coat in the car.

Basically, spring is here, and it’s weird.

We’re experiencing quite the snow shower this morning, but throughout our service area, temperatures will be back in the 40s by the end of the week, even approaching 50 in the lower part of the peninsula. With warmer temperatures, the snow turns to rain, and that’s where problems arise. Again.

The late February flooding was a 1-2 punch because not only did we get inches of rain in a short period of time, but close to a foot of snow melted within 48 hours. The ground thawed and saturated quickly, so the water had nowhere to go.

Now, it’s only been a few weeks since the flooding, so that groundwater? It’s still down there. Upcoming rain will be falling onto already oversaturated soil, which means it, too, will have nowhere to go. And that’s when it ends up in your basement or crawl space.

Water is powerful, and as water pressure in the soil (hydrostatic pressure) increases, the water will attempt to flow to a lower pressure environment. If needed, it will flow through microscopic cracks in your foundation in order to achieve its goal. This is also why those rubberized “waterproofing” paints aren’t effective - if concrete couldn’t keep water out, why would rubber paint?

Combine this with the fluctuating temperatures of the past few weeks causing soil to expand and contract - and thus putting pressure on your foundation, potentially forming further cracks - and we have problems. Water will come in throughout the spring, causing problems ranging from ruining possessions to potential mold growth.

If your basement has had water issues in the past, this is a spring that is going to bring them back. Call us today for a free inspection and don’t spend another rainy season underwater.