#AtoZ Challenge – B is for Basements

Your basement can become a money-pit nightmare if you ignore the early warning signs of incipient drainage problems. Do you see wetness or sweating on your basement walls? Do you see minor water damage issues around your basement windows? Do you see small patches of mold growing? Do you ever see puddles in your basement after a rainfall? Call Integrity Drainage Solutions today for a free evaluation. Before your basement becomes a real problem.

A is for Avoidable Damage, Plus a Bonus A

Welcome to Integrity Drainage Solutions’ first year of participating in the worldwide A to Z Blogging Challenge!

Bloggers around the world are posting a topic each day with the next sequential letter of the alphabet: today’s blog post is about a topic that begins with the letter “A.” April 2 is “B,” April 3 is “C,” and so on. No posts on Sundays, and we finish with Z on April 30. This will be quite a challenge but we intend to have fun and we hope entertain and inform you about the many possibilities and options in Drainage Solutions.

A is for Avoidable Damage

Have you noticed standing water near your house? Puddles that never seem to dry up? Noticed wet or weeping walls in your basement? These are early signs of drainage problems and are avoidable damage. 

Standing water often times seeps into your foundation. Wet or weeping walls are further proof of damage to your basement walls. Water always finds a path. You certainly want to avoid the situation in the picture below.

Integrity Drainage Solutions can effectively and affordable eliminate water problems that can severely damage your home and cost you a lot of money to fix. Call us today for a free estimate to eliminate Avoidable Damage once and for all.

Bonus A: ARLEE BIRD! Special thanks to the A to Z Blog Challenger Creator Arlee Bird. This is a wonderful phenomenon. We are happy to participate and want to thank you for the time and effort to make this worldwide Blogger initiative a reality. Keep up the good work, Arlee!

Wet March, April Showers

Did you enjoy this cold, wet March, 2013? If you did, you are one of a rare and select few. While all that moisture was good to alleviate drought conditions, it may expose drainage issues for your home. Did you notice any moisture buildup on your basement walls or floors? If you did, you have drainage issues.

April Showers are on their way now, too. If you observe standing water lingering in your yard, you may have another common type of drainage challenge. Standing water limits the uses of your yard, and becomes the perfect breeding ground for mold, mosquitos, and other pests. Water flows downhill. Let us help you create effective flows away from your home or out of your yard. Grade adjustment is a proven solution to guiding water to flow where you want it to go.

Other April News

This April, Integrity Drainage is joining the national A –Z Blogger Challenge. We will have 26 days to use every letter in the alphabet to talk about topics related to our business. We are joining bloggers from around the world in this fun exercise in creating a helpful collection of articles for people interested in learning more about drainage.

The limited expense to ensure proper drainage around your home's foundation may be the best long term investment you ever make.  The foundation of your home is meant to last forever.  It is built to withstand pressure from the surrounding soil without moving, cracking or buckling.  Improper drainage around your house caused by little or no pitch away from the house, and/or a faulty gutter/downspout system can cause surface water to drain away slowly, thereby increasing water infiltration next to the foundation.  This increased soil moisture condition increases hydrostatic pressure on your foundation.  Over time this increased hydrostatic pressure can lead to failure in your home's foundation.  The repairs associated with such a failure can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars.  At Integrity Drainage Solutions, LLC we specialize in making sure that surface water moves away from your home's foundation.  Through proper grading along your house and the burying of downspouts and sump pumps, we ensure that surface water does not accumulate at your foundation.  Our use of state of the art equipment, combined with years of experience and thousands of satisfied customers make us a leader in the drainage industry.  Please contact us today to set up a no obligation appointment and allow us to put together a free proposal for the proper drainage solution specifically for your home.

Pooling and Damming Comes with Spring

Now that we’re finally enjoying a small reprieve from the February snows, it’s time to pay attention to pooling and damming due to snow and ice build-up. These can cause severe drainage issues—even if your property is properly graded. In general, that means there’s a slope of about six inches within the first ten feet, and the highest grade at least six inches below any exterior trim or siding on your house.

To avoid problems, we recommend removing any ice or snow from within 8 feet of your house. This allows water to flow away from the house as you had previously planned.

Even the city of Milwaukee is getting in on the action, according to WISN news. The Department of Public Works crews are out clearing snow and debris from sewer grates—and even reacting to calls from residents.

Once you’ve cleared your residence, keep an eye out for your neighbors as well and call the city at 414-286-CITY if you find standing water nearby.

Watch for Pooling and Damming

Now that we’re finally enjoying a small reprieve from the February snows, it’s time to pay attention to pooling and damming due to snow and ice build-up. These can cause severe drainage issues—even if your property is properly graded. In general, that means there’s a slope of about six inches within the first ten feet, and the highest grade at least six inches below any exterior trim or siding on your house.

To avoid problems, we recommend removing any ice or snow within 8 feet of your house. This allows water to flow away from the house as you had previously planned.

Even the city of Milwaukee is getting in on the action, according to WISN news. The Department of Public Works crews are out clearing snow and debris from sewer grates—and even reacting to calls from residents.

Once you’ve cleared your residence, keep an eye out for your neighbors as well and call the city at 414-286-CITY if you find standing water nearby.

Draining Melting Snow and Spring Rains

Snowfall totals for the Milwaukee area this past February were the 10^th-highest since weather recording began in the late 1800s! An average February snowfall total is 9.3 inches; 2013 was 30 inches, with much more in many area locations. And soon it will all melt.

Melting snow and spring rains can expose exterior drainage issues for your home. If you have wet walls or worse, flooding, you need to act quickly to prevent costly damage. Integrity Drainage Solutions has the proven experience to fix your problem before it damages your home and inflicts massive repair costs on your budget.

It is vital to keep water away from your house in snow-melting and rainy season. Here are some warning signs to an exterior drainage problem:

•  Excess water in the foundations & basement walls
• Excess water around plants
• Excess water from driveway enters garage
• Standing water in your lawn or vegetation areas
• Water seeping through doors, basement, or garage
• Standing water 24 hours after a major rain
• Flooding in the basement or crawl space area
• Basement or crawl space has mold and mildew
• Mold or moisture damage in the crawl space
• Musty odors in the living area
• Condensation on air conditioning ductwork or equipment
• Condensation on insulation, water pipes
• Buckled hardwood floors
• High humidity in the living area

Possible negative effects of poor exterior drainage:

• Loss of structural integrity to building or home
• Damaged or ruined interiors
• Plants, trees, and grass damaged or die
• Increased mosquito population from standing water
• Mold growth on interior or exterior structure
• Short-term and long-term health risks
• Major, costly repairs

"We can see a definite difference in the area you performed work. We no longer have standing water. We appreciated the personal attention this project received from David Hintzman as well as the work performed by the people who were on-site for the project. When we did have a concern, your organization was courteous and prompt in coming out and addressing it. We are happy with our decision to choose Integrity to perform the work on our property and thank you again for working with us to resolve our water issues." Richard B. Menomonee Falls, WI

According to a survey of engineers and home inspectors, nearly 9 out of 10 wet basements can be made dry by improving the exterior drainage around your house.