My Gaithersburg, MD Basement Floods Every Time It Rains. How Can I Make My Yard Drain Better?

Does your Gaithersburg MD basement floods every time it rains? If so, you may wonder, “How can I make my yard drain better?”

Spring is right around the corner. It is a time of greenery and color. It’s also filled with rain.

For those of us in Gaithersburg who have basements, this is a scary proposition. On one hand, you want the rain to fall so it beautifies your lawn. On the other, this rain usually ends up in your basement, which is another can of worms onto itself.

In fact, many a customer has said, “My Gaithersburg MD basement floods every time it rains. How can I make my yard drain better?”

The good news is, planting trees, plants, and flowers does more than beautify the exterior of your home, it can prevent water from seeping into your basement during periods of increased rainfall.

How?

Don’t fret. We’ve got the answers you need. If your Gaithersburg MD basement floods every time it rains. Follow these tips to make your yard drain better:

  • Grade your yard. If your basement keeps flooding, it’s likely that the ground in your yard slopes towards your home. This cannot stand. To reverse this issue, you must understand the low and high points of your home. Once you do, use extra dirt to slope them accordingly.
  • Go native. When choosing the plants for your next landscaping project, choose ones indigenous to our region. Because they thrive in our specific environment, they do an excellent job of preventing soil runoff. They also enable storm water to drain more efficiently.
  • Leverage your mulch. Homeowners often use mulch to add a decorative element to gardens and other landscaping projects. But, in this case, a little goes a long way. Too much and it absorbs the rainwater, keeping it close to the structure of your home which leads to rot. To make the most of your mulch, plan your garden so it‘s not right next to your home. If you cannot, make sure it’s at least 6 inches from your siding. This will reduce moisture and protect the exterior of your home.
  • Plant grass. Grass has an ingenious root structure made to absorb water. Just make sure you don’t cut your lawn too short. Doing so weakens the roots and can cause flooding.
    Make a rain garden. We often plant these landscaping features in shallow depressions. This makes them an optimal place to collect excess water after it rains. Plus, since they’re filled with water-loving plants, they’re beautiful as well.
  • Use rain barrels to collect the water. This method works best when you place the rain barrels at the bottom of your downspout. While a little rustic, rain barrels help decrease reduce the amount of polluted runoff that goes into our natural waterways. Plus, you can also the water it catches for your lawn and garden during the dry season.

Excessive rain and the consequent flooding it causes is a real pain. Use the methods above to turn that pain into a form of artistic expression to make all your friends green with envy.

My College Park MD Basement Floods Every Time It Rains. How Can I Make My Yard Drain Better?

The other day a client said, “My College Park MD basement floods every time it rains. How can I make my yard drain better?”

Believe it or not, this is a common complaint for this area. To address this issue, we offer the following advice:

Most homeowners are unaware that what surrounds their home is often just as important as the structure itself. This is especially true in terms of keeping water out of your basement. Thankfully, there are several methods available to fix this problem. But, depending on the severity of the issue, things can get expensive rather quickly. Before you shell out your hard-earned money, consider trying these options:

  • A river runs through it – Find the path the water takes to your house to help you find the source of the drainage problems. Rainy days may not be the culprit like you think. For instance, if your sump pump’s discharge pipe is too close to your home, it can cause major flooding. To fix this problem, extend the drain lines running from your sump pump. Another option is to use strategic landscaping (grass, plants, and natural barriers) to redirect water from your home.
  • Give your lawn the proper grade – When your landscape grade runs toward your house, instead of away from it, this causes flooding. To fix this issue, dig a trench in your yard and fill it with cobblestones or river rock. This makes the water bisect the yard and flow around your house instead of towards it. If the thought of slicing your yard that doesn’t sit well with you, there’s a variation of this method you may find helpful. The French Drain technique, as it is known, allows water to flow into a gravel trench and then into a drainpipe.
  • Change the direction of your downspouts – If you trace your flooding issues to your downspouts, you‘re in luck. It’s an easy fix. Simply add an extender to your downspout so it drains the water about 20 feet away from your home. For added protection, place a decorative rock (like river stones) where the water comes down. The water will hit it and splash instead of creating holes that will eventually erode the soil.

When your College Park MD basement floods every time it rains, there are several things you can do to make your yard drain better. We understand this is a stressful time and calling a professional to fix this issue can cost an arm and a leg. The tips above can help you fix the problem yourself and keep your hard-earned money in your pockets. Good luck!

Basement flooding in Silver Spring MD

Is your home’s basement flooding in Silver Spring, MD? If so, you don’t need us to tell you what a major problem it is. Not only does it indicate major problems with your foundation and basement that can cost you tens of thousands of dollars, but of course, depending on the severity of the flooding issue, everything you’re storing in the basement is at risk. Not a happy situation.

Before the problem can be fixed, we’ve got to drill down and get to the root cause. Where basement flooding in your Silver Spring, MD home is concerned, there are really only two possibilities: A busted pipe or a drainage problem (and specifically, the lack of drainage around your home).

In the case of flooding caused by a busted pipe, it’ll be pretty obvious that that’s what the problem is. While it’s still extremely bad news, if this is your issue, then count yourself (relatively) lucky as it’s the simplest and most straightforward problem to fix.

If the basement flooding in your Silver Spring, MD home is being caused by inadequate or nonexistent drainage, that’s a bigger issue. Still fixable, but the process will be more involved.

It’s possible that the people who originally built your home did, in fact, install a drainage system, but over the years, something has gone wrong, and the system is either clogged or damaged to the point of being nonfunctional. That’s a more serious problem than a busted pipe, but still fairly easy to fix. We just locate the problem in the drainage system, un-clog or repair it, waterproof your basement, then move on to the interior of your basement.

Worst case, the builders didn’t install a drainage system at all. If that’s the situation, it’s a major problem, but we can still fix it. To do so, we’ll need excavate all around your house to expose your entire foundation, install a French drain, waterproof your basement from the exterior, then move into the inside to patch the walls and attend to any other damage.

Once we identify the root cause of the issue, we’ll give you a no-obligation quote so you’ll know exactly what it will take to put the issue to bed once and for all. Then, assuming you’re comfortable with everything, we’ll begin. Before you know it, the issue will be solved, you’ll have greater peace of mind, and one less very big thing to worry about.

These kinds of issues are both terrible and problematic. It’s unfortunate, but you don’t have to go it alone. We’ve got decades of experience, and there’s no job too big for our talented team to handle. Don’t delay. We’re standing by.

Basement flooding in Rockville MD

Is the Basement flooding in your Rockville, MD home? Unless you’re looking at a burst pipe, which will be quite obvious to the eye, then the issue comes down to drainage. Specifically, a lack of it.

The problem lies in where your house is situated on your property. One way or another, it’s in the path of onrushing water. For example: If your house is located at the base of a hill, then every time it rains, water, being water, follows the path of least resistance, heads down the hill and straight for your house, where it pools and collects.

It seeps into your foundation causing damage, and supersaturates the soil, which exerts an incredible amount of pressure on the walls of your basement. Worse, all of this is mostly invisible. Yes, you may see the water pooled around your house, but the real damage is happening out of sight, underground.

Long term, you’ll see cracks begin to appear in your basement walls, accompanied by seepage.

If you’re proactive, at this point, you may try to implement some DIY waterproofing fixes. Those will buy you some time, but since they’re not addressing the drainage issue, they’re not getting to the root of the problem, and are at best, temporary solutions.

Ultimately, you’ll wind up in the same place. With your basement flooding in your Rockville, MD home, and at that point, the situation has become critical.

If your situation is anything like the above, then the original builders should have seen the problem coming, and installed a French drain when they built your home. Maybe they did, and over the years, it has become damaged or clogged to the point that it’s no longer functional.

If that’s the case, it’s an easier and cheaper fix than you might think. We can find the drain, locate the source of the clog or damage, and fix that, then address the damage to your basement itself.

Of course it’s also possible that a drain was just never built, which made basement flooding in your Rockville, MD home inevitable at some point. That’s still a fixable problem, but it’s a much more involved project, requiring extensive excavation to unearth your entire foundation, install the drain, waterproof your basement from the outside, then attend to the damage to the basement itself.

Whichever the case, we can get to the bottom of the mystery, tell you exactly what the problem is, and give you a no-obligation estimate so you’ll have a firm understanding of what it will take to put the problem behind you once and for all. Then, assuming you’re comfortable with the estimate, we’ll get down to business.

Don’t let a problem like this wait. Give us a call today.

Basement flooding in Potomac MD

Is the basement flooding in your Potomac, MD home? If it is, then you know what a nightmare it can be. Very few things are more damaging to your home and property. It’s insidious. It gets into and under everything and it can cause serious damage in virtually no time. It’s a crisis, no doubt, and it needs to be dealt with immediately before things spiral out of control and you find yourself facing a repair bill you’ll struggle to pay.

Before we can fix the basement flooding in your Potomac, MD home though, we’ve got to get to the root cause of the issue. In cases like these, it’s one of two things: Either it’s a busted pipe, or it’s a drainage issue, or more specifically, the lack of drainage around your home.

If it’s a busted pipe, you’re in luck. If your basement is flooding in your Potomac, MD home, it might not feel like luck, but honestly, a busted pipe is a quick, easy fix, which, under the circumstances, is about the best outcome you can hope for.

If it’s a drainage issue, the problem is still fixable, but it’s still a bigger job, for sure. In this case, one of two things are true. You’ve either got a French drain around the foundation of your home, but over time, it’s become clogged or damaged to the point where it’s no longer operational, or you don’t have one at all and you desperately need one.

If you have a drain and it’s just not working, that’s bad, but not as bad as it could be. We find the problem, fix it, then attend to the damage of the basement itself.

Worst case scenario, you don’t have a drain at all, which means there’s nothing to keep water from pooling around your home and causing further damage. Until and unless that’s fixed, the problem is just going to keep getting worse.

This is a major project, but still doable. To fix the issue once and for all, we’ll need to do some serious excavation to expose your entire foundation. Then we can add a French drain, waterproof your basement from the outside, then move indoors to fix the damage to the basement itself.

Whichever the case, as soon as we identify the problem, we’ll let you know the details and give you a free, no-obligation quote so you’ll know exactly what it will take to put the whole mess behind you. Assuming you’re comfortable with our quote, we’ll get to work, and before you know it, it’s over and done with.

If you’re facing flooding of any severity, don’t wait. Call us today. We can help.

Basement flooding in Kensington MD

Let us tell you a horror story.

You bought a house and moved in. Everything seems great, but you quickly notice that each time it rains, you wind up with water pooling and collecting around your house. It’s annoying, but you don’t think much of it.

Unfortunately, underground where you can’t see what’s happening, that water is seeping you’re your foundation, weakening and damaging it. It’s also supersaturating the soil around your home, which exerts tremendous pressure on your basement walls.

Months pass, and you start noticing small amounts of water in your basement. The air feels damp and heavy. Soon, cracks start appearing in the walls, and then, one night, after a heavy rain, you experience basement flooding in your Kensington, MD home. It’s a disaster.

This little story, or one very like it, happens a lot more often than you might think. It’s important to understand though, that basement flooding in your Kensington, MD home doesn’t just happen overnight (unless a pipe bursts or something), but rather, is a slow-building process that happens over time.

Those early symptoms are harbingers of things to come, and if you don’t take action when you first see them, the ultimately, inevitably, you’re going to wind up facing basement flooding in your Kensington, MD home.

Again, barring something like a burst pipe, the issue here is drainage, or more specifically, the lack of it.

If your home is prone to having water build up around it after it rains, then the builders obviously knew this when they first built your house. What should have happened is that early on in the construction of your home, a French drain should have been installed to divert the water safely away from the home, and maybe that happened. It could be that you have a drain, but that over the years, something has happened to clog or damage it to the point that it’s no longer functional.

In that case, the problem is bad, but still fairly easy to fix. We locate the problem with the drain, unclog or repair it, waterproof the basement, patch the walls, and attend to any other damage on the interior.

Unfortunately, it could also be the case that no drain was ever installed at all. It is possible to go in after the fact and add one, but it’s a much bigger project, requiring extensive excavation to uncover the entire foundation of your house, install the drain, waterproof, and then move into the basement itself to patch and repair.

In either case, we can help. As the region’s top-rated landscaping company, we’ve got the skills and the engineering expertise to fix the problem once and for all. Don’t delay, call us today, and let’s fix this!

Basement flooding in Germantown MD

Are you suffering basement flooding issues in your Germantown, MD home? That’s a serious problem with no easy answers, and as you know, few things are more damaging to home and property than water. It’s silent and insidious.

Everything seems fine one day, and then the next, it’s everywhere, and depending on the severity of the basement flooding in your Germantown, MD home, you’re not only looking at thousands of dollars in repairs, but also the loss of pretty much everything the water touches. Given how much “stuff” most people store in their basements, that could be catastrophic, to say the least.

At the root, there are really only two things that cause flooding like you’re experiencing. It’s either a burst pipe (which is obvious, and although quite damaging, fairly easy to fix), or it’s a drainage issue. That’s harder to fix, but still doable.

Normally, if a house is built “in the path” of water, like in cases where your house is built on a lower elevation on your property, the builders will install a French drain during the early phases of construction. It’s possible that that’s what the builders did in your case, and over time, something has happened to clog or damage the drain, which is leading to basement flooding in your Germantown, MD home.

If that’s the case, the problem is bad, but still fairly easy to fix. We find the clogged or damaged section of the drain, repair it, waterproof your basement, then attend to the damaged walls and the interior.

On the other hand, if the builders just never added a drain at all, that’s a bigger project. It will require deep excavation that will expose the entire foundation of your home. Once exposed, we can add the drain, waterproof your basement from the outside, then fix the walls and the damage to the interior.

Whatever the case, once we know the scope and scale of the problem, we’ll provide you with a no-obligation estimate so you’ll know exactly what you’re up against, and assuming you’re comfortable with our estimate, we’ll get to work. It won’t be pretty for a while, but we’ll make sure the problem is solved once and for all, so you’ll never have to worry about it again.

Situations like these are unfortunate to say the least, and when they happen, you don’t want to entrust the repairs to just anyone. You need a trusted expert you know you can rely on. We are that expert. As the region’s #1 landscaping company, we’ve handled scores of issues like the one you’re experiencing. We have the skills and the engineering expertise to get the job done, no matter how bad it seems right now.

Give us a call. We’ll be right over.

Basement flooding in Gaithersburg MD

Is the basement flooding in your Gaithersburg, MD home every time it rains? Even if it’s only flooding “a little,” that’s a crisis that needs to be addressed right away, because the problem is only going to get worse over time.

Unfortunately, if you’re seeing basement flooding of any severity in your Gaithersburg, MD home, the underlying problem that’s causing it has clearly become critical. If it was just a question of cracks in your basement walls or minor seepage, you might be able to buy yourself some time with DIY waterproofing strategies and solutions. Unfortunately, even the best of those are stopgap measures that do nothing to address the core problem.

And what is that core problem? It comes down to drainage.

When your home was first built, the builders should have installed a French drain in the early stages of construction in order to redirect water and preventing it from leading to basement flooding in your Gaithersburg, MD home. It could be the case that the drain was, in fact, installed, but over time, it has become clogged or damaged to the point that it’s no longer functional.

If that’s the case, the problem should be fairly easy to resolve, and less costly than your flooding issue might indicate. On the other hand, it’s also possible that the drain was simply never built. In that case, we can certainly add one now, but it’s a significantly larger project.

The first thing we’ll have to do is some excavating to determine precisely what the issue is (clogged drain, or none at all). Once we know, if we need to build a French drain, we’ll need to do some extensive excavation to fully expose the foundation of your home, install the drain, then see to the repairs of the basement walls, sealing and waterproofing to ensure that when we put everything back together, you don’t see any further problems.

Before the work begins, we’ll be sure to outline exactly what steps need to be taken and give you a no-obligation estimate so you’ll know exactly what it will take to put this problem in your rearview mirror. Then, assuming you’re comfortable with everything, we’ll begin.

A problem this serious is never easy or fun to deal with, and while we can’t go back in time and make it so you never had to suffer with the issue at all, we can make sure all the damage is repaired, and keep your basement from flooding in the future.

Few things are more damaging to your home and property than water damage. If you’re experiencing seepage, cracks in your basement walls, or worst of all, flooding on any level, don’t delay. Call us today. We’re happy to help.

Basement flooding in Columbia MD

Is the basement flooding in your Columbia, MD home? If it is, you don’t need us to tell you how bad the problem is. Few things are more damaging to your home and property than water. Obviously, if something isn’t done immediately, you could be facing catastrophic losses, but hold on. As bad as it is, there’s a solution to every problem.

First, let’s take a deep breath and a half step back to see what caused the basement flooding in your Columbia, MD home in the first place. Once we get to the root cause, we can figure out exactly what to do about it.

There are really only two things that could cause basement flooding in your Columbia, MD home. The first is pretty straightforward and easy to spot. If a pipe burst, you’ve got big problems, but fortunately, that’s an easy problem to fix.

The second thing is drainage, or rather, the conspicuous lack of it. When your house was first built, if it was built in an area where drainage would be a problem, the builders almost certainly would have known that. It could be the case that during the early stages of your home’s construction, they did, in fact, install a drainage system, but somehow, during the intervening years, the drain has either become clogged or damaged to the point where it’s no longer functional.

As bad as things are with your basement flooding, this too is a fairly simple problem to fix. We find the problem with the drain, fix it, waterproof the basement, and then attend to the damage caused in the meantime.

The worst case scenario would be if the builders just didn’t install a French drain at all when they first built the house. In that case, it’s a much bigger project and a much bigger problem, but it’s still fixable.

To tackle it, we’ll need to do some serious excavation around your home, completely exposing your foundation so we can install the drainage system, then move to waterproofing the basement externally, and finally patching the damage to the walls of your basement, and fixing any other damage your basement may have suffered.

Before we get to any of that though, we’ll give you our professional assessment and a no-obligation quote so you’ll know exactly what you’re up against and exactly what it will take to fix the problem once and for all.

Then, assuming you’re comfortable with the estimate, we’ll get to work, and put the problem in your rearview mirror in short order.

Catastrophes like this are never fun to deal with, but you don’t have to go it alone. Trust the region’s best landscape company. We’ve got the engineering expertise to get the job done right, which will give you tremendous peace of mind.

Basement flooding in Beltsville MD

Is your basement flooding in your Beltsville, MD home? It’s a serious problem because few things are more damaging to home and property than water. Obviously, the first order of business is to solve the immediate problem, but until and unless the root cause is addressed, it’s bound to happen again in the future.

Barring some plumbing calamity, if you’re dealing with basement flooding in your Beltsville, MD home, then the water’s coming in from the outside, and in quantity. In all likelihood, the issue is that you don’t have a proper drainage system in and around your home, and you may not have one at all.

In that case, any time it rains, water collects right up against your house where it supersaturates the soil, damages your foundation and exerts tremendous pressure on the walls of your basement. Over time, this leads to cracks, and long before your basement flooding issues began in your Beltsville, MD home, you probably saw seepage as the cracks began to grow. The air in the basement probably smelled musty and felt so humid that it had a thick, damp quality to it. Then, of course, things got worse, and now you’re looking at major damage, not to mention the probable loss of some (or all) of the stuff you were storing in the basement.

As bad as the problem is, there is a solution, and we can help. Even if you’re a committed “do it yourselfer,” if things have gotten so bad that you’re seeing flooding, this isn’t an issue you want to try and tackle alone. While there are a few DIY fixes you can use to patch cracks and do at least some waterproofing, those are stopgap measures at best, and none of the DIY fixes address the root of the problem, which comes down to poor or nonexistent drainage.

Your home should have had a French drain installed around it when it was first built. It’s possible that it did, and over time, the drain has become clogged to the point of inoperability. If that’s the case, a bit of excavation will reveal the drain, and we can isolate and fix the problem fairly inexpensively.

On the other hand, if your home just never had a French drain installed in the first place, that’s a bigger project. It’s still fixable, but will require excavating around your house to fully expose the foundation and install the drain, with the objective being to redirect the water safely away from your home. Once that’s done, we can fix the damage to the basement walls and see to it that the issue never comes up again.

You don’t have to go it alone. Help is just a phone call away. Call us today.