Check your sump pump or Palmer valve . Sump pumps replaced them. This region is cursed by clay-heavy soils that don't filter water well, and by building siting and drainage system practices that don't always suit our conditions, said Weber, publicity chairman of the Wisconsin Association of Home Inspectors. You go to any other city, you won't see anywhere near that number. Calls flood in With rising temperatures and rain last week, Milwaukee basement contractors Cory Gaidish, president of Gaidish Construction Co., and Dan McCoy, president of McCoy Contractors Inc., fielded a wave of calls from worried homeowners with basement seepage problems.
Small cracks are relatively inexpensive to repair.
If allowed to continue, they can turn into major repairs. Homeowners use dehumidifiers to reduce basement moisture and sometimes hide water damage with wall paneling, carpeting andfrequent repainting, home inspectors and realty agents say. Experts say it's better to solve the underlying problem - often as simple as cleaning gutter systems, extending downspouts at least six feet from the house and pitching foundation grading at least an inch per foot downward from the house. Haste may make waste For new homeowners especially, wet-basement syndrome is a nasty surprise that can trigger hasty spending, Weber said. They get a little water in the basement and they panic.