The Dif­fer­ence Between Base­ment Seep­age and Sew­er Backup

Aug 3, 2023 • By Matthew Stock.

Base­ment seep­age and sew­er back­ups are two dis­tinct yet con­cern­ing water intru­sion prob­lems expe­ri­enced by home­own­ers. Under­stand­ing the dif­fer­ence between these two base­ment water prob­lems is vital to get­ting the prop­er solu­tion put in place. You may think that a water­proof­ing com­pa­ny can pro­vide a solu­tion for sew­er back­up, how­ev­er that is not the case. Base­ment Water­proof­ing com­pa­nies deal with issues relat­ed to water seep­age. While some of the tech­niques they use may indi­rect­ly help in pre­vent­ing minor instances of sew­er back­up, sew­er back­up prob­lems require a dif­fer­ent domain of exper­tise and are typ­i­cal­ly han­dled by spe­cial­ized plumb­ing and sewage ser­vices. How­ev­er, prop­er main­te­nance and proac­tive mea­sures can pre­vent both sew­er and base­ment water­proof­ing issues. Keep read­ing to find out what the dif­fer­ences are between base­ment seep­age and sew­er backup.

What caus­es sew­er back­up in basements?

Sew­er back­ups occur when the munic­i­pal sewage sys­tem or home sew­er lines become over­whelmed or blocked, forc­ing waste­water back into the base­ment. This is often caused by heavy rain­fall, tree root infil­tra­tions, or improp­er dis­pos­al prac­tices. Dur­ing heavy rains or when sew­er lines are obstruct­ed, the waste­water has nowhere to go but back into your home, com­ing up through floor drains, toi­lets, or oth­er plumb­ing fix­tures. This can result in sig­nif­i­cant water dam­age and health hazards.

What caus­es base­ment seepage?

Base­ment seep­age can hap­pen when water finds its way into a base­ment through cracks in the foun­da­tion, through win­dow wells, up through base­ment floor cracks, or even from sump pump fail­ure due to end of ser­vice life, pow­er fail­ure, or inad­e­quate capac­i­ty. This can lead to damp­ness, mold growth, and struc­tur­al issues. To address these issues, solu­tions such as foun­da­tion crack repair, water­proof­ing mem­branes, inte­ri­or drain tile, a yard drainage sys­tem, and even gut­ter replace­ment are rec­om­mend­ed to pro­tect your home from poten­tial water-relat­ed dam­age and main­tain a dry and safe liv­ing space.

What to do if you have sew­er back­up in your basement

If you sus­pect sew­er back­up has infil­trat­ed your base­ment, con­tact the munic­i­pal­i­ty to report the issue and con­sid­er installing a flood con­trol sys­tem to pre­vent future occur­rences. A plumber would also be a good option to con­sult or fix your sew­er back­up issue. A licensed plumber should have the exper­tise in regard to sew­er pip­ing and sew­er back­up in the home.

What to do if you have base­ment seepage

To address base­ment seep­age sched­ule your free con­sul­ta­tion online today! U.S. Water­proof­ing will come and assess the issue. Remem­ber, time­ly action and pro­fes­sion­al assis­tance are cru­cial for deal­ing with base­ment seep­age to pro­tect your home from water-relat­ed problems.

At U.S. Water­proof­ing, we are ded­i­cat­ed to help­ing home­own­ers pro­tect their prop­er­ties from water dam­age. If you require expert assis­tance with base­ment water­proof­ing solu­tions, foun­da­tion repair, or sump pump instal­la­tion, don’t hes­i­tate to reach out to us. We have helped over 500,000 cus­tomers in the Chicagoland area. Remem­ber, a dry base­ment is a hap­py basement! 

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