Nothing ruins a home quite like a flooded basement. In addition to rendering the room functionally worthless, it can also have negative impacts on your health and wallet. In light of this, waterproofing your basement is critical to your house’s and its residents’ preservation and protection. Here are five advantages of having a waterproof basement.
Flood Prevention
Because of its location, a basement is vulnerable to flooding. This can problematic because flooding ruins any furniture or other possessions that you store there. It also makes the space generally unusable and unsanitary. If you waterproof your basement, you won’t have to worry about this happening when heavy storms do arrive.
Health Protection
Prolonged moisture in the basement allows mold and mildew to grow and spread, which can negatively impact your health. Some common symptoms of having mold particles in the air are difficulty breathing, allergies, and respiratory infections. Mold can even take root in areas that you might not easily see, such as the crawl space. By having waterproofing treatment, your basement will remain clean and safe.
Reduced Energy Costs
If your HVAC system has vents that connect to the basement, waterproofing there can lower warming or cooling energy costs. Annually, you can save between 10 to 15 percent on your HVAC bills. This is because humid air’s temperature is much more difficult to change than dry air’s.
Diminished Damage Costs
On top of the costs accrued from air conditioning and heating, you may have to dish out even more money if your basement experiences major damages. Besides water entry from heavy rain, the numerous breaches and fractures will add to insurance claim prices. In fact, about one-fifth of homeowner’s insurance claims are made due to water-related deterioration. You can easily circumvent this headache by maintaining your basement’s condition.
Structural Security
In an untreated basement, pressure from water in the surrounding earth can strain the wall, floor, and ceiling to the point that they crack. Not only is this detrimental to the basement itself, but it also threatens your whole home’s structural integrity, since the foundation is connected to it. Waterproofing your basement ensures that such shifts and breaks never have the chance to occur.
Make your basement a fortress against the elements and reap these benefits by calling The Real Seal today!
