OfflineI get many students that want to know……”How to determine if a basement had water on the floors or not?”
Predicting basement leakage is a tough game. On one hand you don’t want to be alarmist and point our problems that don’t exist. This makes you very unpopular with sellers, for example. ON the other hand, you often have suspicions but can’t substantiate them. This makes for interesting reporting.
Here is a list of the clues you can watch for :
• Water or dampness on the walls or floor
• Efflorescence on the walls or floor
• Rot, stains, or water marks on doors, walls, windows and basement stair stringers.
• Rust at baseboard nails, carpet tack strips, columns, or appliances
• Odors and mold
• Rot
• Loose floor tiles (tap on the tiles)
I hope this helps you as you evaluate your properties.
HAPPY REHABBING!!!!
If you would like the chance to work with me or one of my fellow real estate investor coaches and our advanced training programs, give us a call anytime to see if Dean's Real Estate Success Academy and our customized curriculum is a fit for you. Call us at 1-877-219-1474 ext. 125
I just ran into on of these properties yesterday I was told it was from the down spouts well thats not the case at all there were bricks missing where the water was flowiwing in and it was high up on the side wall, dont take for granded what people tell you do your own overservations and look well, Jim ( honesty can be a hard thing to come by )
jbischoff
Our rehab had a horrible smell in the basement over the winter. In April and May I found some areas on one wall that had water seeping in on the base of the wall. But just looked wet.
and the basement will be good.
I checked all the gutters and cleaned them out again.
When the painters did the outside and removed some gutters, and we had some storms hit with small flooding, well when I went back two days later, had an area with enough water I had to shop vac it up and put on fans.
I put the gutters back on, and that made the difference. However, then it was always damp down there, and the smell for a cat or dog using the basement got stronger.
I went back with my carpenter, and we found an area that you could see where the water came from the downspout and flowed back towards the basement wall.
A longer spout, and we put some more dirt down and even a few bricks by the wall, which was also a window area, and it hasn't been wet since.
The smell I use Irish Spring soap bars, that makes a huge difference.
I use them for even smells in the rooms in the house. Took out the smell in a kitchen closet where the guy left a bag of onions and potatoes for the summer and they rotted.
But I did take some bleach in a bottle and sprayed around the basement. Doing good now. But I did put a dehumidifier down there for the last two weeks now, and it does fill up.
Hoping that this will be the final answer