SuperRocketRumble t1_jadcs7q wrote on February 28, 2023 at 5:00 PM

Reply to comment by Ar30la in Viewing homes in the area by Ar30la

I would say that no, this is not normal for a house built post World War II.

It’s a lot more common in much older houses with natural stone foundations.

kniki217 t1_jadlluc wrote on February 28, 2023 at 5:55 PM

Right? Everyone saying that is normal for a house built in the 50s? I have a finished basement. I had water come in once the entire time I've lived in my house and it was while the entire region was flooding from crazy amounts of rainfall. My grandma's house was the same. One time from hurricane Ivan. My parents basement is semi-finished and the entire time we lived there we never had issues until the yard was dug up to replace a busted sewage pipe. The company that did it messed up the French drain and now they are getting water in the one corner but it's slightly damp block. Not flooding the basement.

SuperRocketRumble t1_jadqr21 wrote on February 28, 2023 at 6:27 PM

Yea, maybe just a lot of folks used to living in 100+ year old houses?

I’m not an expert by any means, but I would be concerned about that much water in a 1950s basement if it were my place.

skfoto t1_jaeba3g wrote on February 28, 2023 at 8:38 PM

I grew up in a house built in 1925. My parents now live in a house built in 1926 and I currently own one built in 1923.

None of these houses have ever had a drop of water enter the basement.

If your house is old enough to have a natural stone foundation and/or dirt floor basement, sure, expect some water. But any house with a modern foundation and poured concrete basement floor should not regularly have water coming in.

BorisTheMansplainer t1_jaekcpb wrote on February 28, 2023 at 9:36 PM

What if the basement floor is a 1-inch slab poured over dirt? ;)

The house is a hundred years old and the basement frequently got water, but redirecting surface water got rid of everything but the summer humidity from being in contact with soil.

turp101 t1_jaec1pn wrote on February 28, 2023 at 8:43 PM

A lot of it depends on where your house is compared to the path of water. I have been in lots of 40s-50s houses with wet basements. Probably more than 75% of the ones I go in have some moisture. Drainage tile was still kind of new then, and lots of it has failed. It wasn't until you got into the 60s and 70s that homes seem to have gotten a lot dryer in general. The post-war era was really just the beginning of standards in the building industry so there is a lot of variance.

PirinTablets13 t1_jae18ga wrote on February 28, 2023 at 7:34 PM

Yeah, our house has a natural stone foundation (~160 years old) and even with floor drains, french drains, and a dehumidifier, the basement is perpetually a little damp.