Forum: Cellar
February 16, 2008
basement flood/waterproofing?
We are considering buying a modest brownstone in prime Bklyn, and need the cellar to increase total sf (house is small) but the cellar shows signs of past flooding (sump pump, mold on sheetrock walls, etc.) The inspector found the walls to be dry now, but there was a lot of water in the sump pump. One theory he had was that the sump pump is basically working, and past mold is from previous floods. Also, problem might arise from fact that current owner dug out half the cellar (where sump pump is). That is, back half of cellar is about 2-3' deeper than front half, and maybe the house hit ground water.
My question: what are the odds that this basement can be waterproofed to eventually be a usable basement? We would love to dig up foundation to raise ceiling height, and make room into usable family room type place (I've seen others do this) but is there any way to know before signing contract if this is possible - that is, how can we figure out ahead of time if this basement will be usable and not prone to problematic and/or chronic flooding? Our inspector said it really is a matter of water "management" but how easy/difficult it is to manage the water so that flooding does not occur?