As the weather warms and Spring comes to us, one reality is April Showers. While they definitely bring May flowers, and help keep lawns and landscaping well watered free of charge, rain in moderate to heavy amounts can quickly lead to wet basements and soggy yards.
An important task as part of your annual home maintenance checklist should be to inspect your home for water damage or problem areas. This check is especially important for homeowners with basements. Here are a few ideas and suggestions to keep your home dry and free of unwanted water this Spring:
- Cover basement window wells to prevent leaks. This recent article recommends one manufacturer of water-tight covers.
- Take a walk around your home during a heavy rainstorm to see where water is pooling near your foundation. Use landscape flags to mark trouble spots, then return to them on a dry day to adjust the slope away from your home to encourage proper runoff.
- Extend those gutters! Use extensions to make sure water coming from the downspouts in your gutters is routed away from the house.
- Check for drainage or run off problems throughout your yard. It is amazing how quickly water will spread through a yard if it does not have a defined path to follow. Map out the drainage patterns in your yard during a rain shower, then consider simply digging a trench, or installing a drainage system to help minimize standing water and soggy lawns.
- Install rain barrels. For right around $100 you can install a 55 gallon rain barrel to capture rainwater for use in watering your landscape. Be sure to get an extra length of hose to use as an overflow extension.
- Test and inspect the sump pump. It is can help a lot if there is any spring flooding.