Found a house, offer has been accepted. House is 2 and a half years old. Home inspector found minor water stains on corner of a basement wall. He also said that the downspout was discharging water close to the basement and not a huge issue. We decided to buy the house. Is this pretty common ? The wall wasn't leaking and no water was in the basement. Just few blocks of water stains on concrete walls.
2007-07-04 07:17:49 · 7 answers · asked by Bike Lover 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
One typical reason for minor water stains on basement walls is gutters clogged and overflowing or downspouts not discharging the water far enough from a foundation.
Another common cause is dirt around the foundation not being sloped away from that foundation to provide positive drainage.
If you have not finished off the basement yet consider using a waterproof type paint such as DryLoc or DamTite to stop minor water infiltration. White paint will also make your basement much lighter and brigher too.
Make sure your gutters remain clean and water from them is discharged at least 5 feet or so away from your foundation.
2007-07-05 02:49:51 · answer #1 · answered by VolunteerJim 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I recently saw some photos of a one year old house that had mold and construction flaws. I'm certain that the contractor didn't intentionally forget to attach the shower drain to the plumbing, but none the less, the shower had been draining into the crawl space for almost a year. Get a copy of the inspector's report and call the inspector. Most have information about what is causing the problem and will discuss it with you. They should not provide "guesstimates" on how much it could cost to repair, but many inspectors are very candid about where you stand. It may need improved drainage, which may or may not be a huge issue. Most inspectors have a moisture meter that can determine the percentage of moisture in the wall. That number should be fairly low (20ish in my area) and that may determine if this was an old problem that has been corrected, or something ongoing.
2016-05-18 00:56:32 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's ALWAYS a big red flag. I bought a place 7 years ago with the same issue. We gambled that it was nothing serious and lost. About 2 weeks after closing we were hit with a gully-washer and water was running through the basement. It was a finished basement and we had to rip out the stem walls to locate the source of water intrusion. When we opened up the walls we found evidence that it had happened before and that old evidence had been covered up. Cost me about $15k to fix it.
2007-07-04 07:27:29 · answer #3 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Is this the 3rd or 4th run for this question? You have gotten some really good responses here the previous times this EXACT same question was asked.
You hired professionals to give you an assessment, you went with that and bought the house. Anyone in here that hasn't actually seen the house and how "minor" these water stains are is merely guessing.
2007-07-04 08:00:01 · answer #4 · answered by godged 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You steel have to fix this problem, if water was leaking, you should know from were and why?
Request, that seller will fix this and give you a report what was done, so, you will not have any problem . Congratulation!
2007-07-04 07:27:04 · answer #5 · answered by reality 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Does not sound like a big issue.When you get the house,you can open a small section of the wall just to see if you have a slow leak.
2007-07-04 07:26:01 · answer #6 · answered by Ron Burgundy 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
You should do a complete inspection with a professional
2007-07-04 09:06:40 · answer #7 · answered by YayArea 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋