When the average person thinks about home ownership and home improvement, basement waterproofing is probably not the first thing to come to mind. And who can blame them? Basement waterproofing has never been particularly glamorous; but then again, neither is a damp and moldy basement.
There are a variety of benefits of having your basement or crawl space professionally waterproofed, and we’d like to outline 5 of them here:
1. Increase Space & Value of Your Home.
Most people think of the basement as little more than an old, musty storage space for your junk and a place to do laundry. This is quite simply the wrong way to look at it. Looking at it from a square footage point of view, the basement accounts for an entire floor. For most people, that’s either 1/3 or 1/2 of their home’s total space! This is a huge amount of wasted space, and certainly not a percentage of space you’d rather dedicate to seepage, bacteria, and mold growth. Adding healthy, usable space to your home will certainly boost it’s value, giving you an advantage if you ever decide to sell.
2. Reduce Energy Costs
Believe it or not, you may actually be able to save on energy costs by waterproofing your basement or crawl space! By sealing up old cracks you can increase your energy efficiency by preventing cold air from coming in during the fall and winter seasons. Alternatively, in the warmer and wetter months, when seepage and cracks in your foundation cause excess moisture to enter the home, your air conditioner has to work harder to get rid of the warm moist air. Humidity certainly plays a role in air conditioning efficiency!
3. Avoid Serious Long Term Health Risks
We know that water and humidity an cause toxic mold to grow, but you might be surprised to learn just how quickly and easily that can happen! Under the right conditions, toxic black mold and grow in a little as 24-48 hours! That’s scary to know, especially if minor basement seepage is something that you’ve been letting go for years. There are serious health risks posed by continued exposure to mold growth. For a list of symptoms, warnings, and tips, please visit the EPA website here.
4. Protect Your Investment
Think back to the day you bought your home. Remember how proud you felt? Remember the first few months of careful decorating, cleaning, remodeling, and furnishing? Your home is an investment, something to be proud of. By taking action to ensure the long term health of the very foundation your home stands on, you are showing your investment a little love. You are helping to ensure that the future value of your investment in strengthened. Isn’t that reason enough?
5. Ahhhh, Peace of Mind
Not only is stress being linked to more and more health issues every day, it’s just simply a good old fashioned waste of time. You all know the feeling; that knot in the pit of your stomach as the first claps of thunder rattle your windows before a heavy thunderstorm. You begin to prepare the Wet-Vac, mops, and cleaning supplies… Wouldn’t it be nice to not have to worry about cleaning up after your faulty basement for a change?
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Gosh, long read, but makes a lot of sense.
I agree, mold growth has a lot of adverse affects to your health. Basements can be a prime spot for mold growth, especially if they get flooded. Your point about waterproofing the basement in your home to avoid serious health risks caused by mold was very well made. It seems like a good idea to have your basement waterproofed in case an incident occurs that would cause black mold to grow.
I like what this article mentions about the reduction in energy costs. It makes sense that the deal could provide better insulation. I’ll have to look into having it done professionally, just to make sure the waterproofing is done right.