REASONS FOR THE WATER TABLE TO SHIFT

After 20 years of inspecting basements, I’ve come up with a handful of reasons why a homeowner will not have water in their basement one day and the next day have puddles on their floor.

First of all, the NJ/NY are has a high water table. (Definition of water table: The underground surface below grade level which is wholly saturated with water.)  So in my opinion, even if you do not currently have water in your basement–it’s not a matter of IF but WHEN.  I’ve been in houses that are 80 years old and dry as a bone, but then after a major storm, e.g. Hurricane Floyd in September 1999, about 10 inches of rain drop to the ground and seepage occurs.  Which brings me to my first reason:  Major storms impact the water table and cause it to shift creating water in basements that never got a drop in the past.  Major storms raise the water table with such force and saturate the ground so much that it shifts the water table and creates new avenues for ground water to rise up, putting hydrostatic pressure on basement foundations that were dry before the storm.

The second reason for the water table to shift, which comes up often, is an installation of a built-in pool.  Whether it is the homeowner or a next-door neighbor, installing a built-in pool displaces the ground water that would normally rise up but now cannot due to the structure of the pool.  If the pool is installed close enough to the house, it can direct the water to the adjacent foundation wall.

A third cause is cutting down big trees that were close to the house.  It’s amazing how much water a big tree can soak up in the summertime.

And lastly, a fourth reason for dry homes to result in seepage, is new construction. If you live in an area that is being built up or you have land close to you that opens up for development, you can get a shift in the water table from all the foundations being sunk into the ground.  Water displacement can occur and foundations never subjected to hydrostatic pressure will give away at some point in time and cause the basement to leak when the ground is saturated.