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Water in your basement? Oh no!

12/23/2015

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I was just looking at the weather forecast for the next week and it’s supposed to rain almost every day…ugh. There’s nothing like a wet Christmas.

Anyway with all this rain you might notice some water seeping through your foundation walls and even some water running across your basement floor. There are several reasons for this but one of the most common is something we in the business call negative grading. I’m not talking about report cards and gold stars but the ground level around your house and how it drives where rain water flows.

So let’s stop right here for a minute and talk about what usually causes a negative grade issue…

When the contractor excavated for your foundation, they over-dug by several feet to allow working room to build the foundation walls. Once completed, they back-filled the void, creating a positive grade (slope) away from the foundation. This disturbed back-fill continues to settle and compact for 100’s of years and this folks can cause negative grade.

Example of an over-dig around a new foundation wall

There are two kinds of grading...positive and negative. The good kind - positive grading - is when the ground slopes away from your home, directing water away from your foundation. The bad kind - negative grading - is when the ground slopes towards your home, directing water to your foundation. Bad things can happen when water runs back towards your home and not away.

Proper grading around your home is absolutely essential.

You must have a minimum five-degree slope away from your home, on all sides. What’s a five-degree slope? If you measure six feet away from the foundation, the ground should be three inches lower than the ground next to the house. Having a five-degree slope prevents water from pooling around your foundation. Remember, concrete isn’t waterproof. That means it doesn’t matter how watertight a foundation might be; if water is there long enough, it’s going to get in.

So what can you do about correcting a negative grade issue? Well it’s a pretty easy fix actually.

Remove any raised flowerbeds, mulch, or any soft topsoil and install good ol’ clay to build up the area of concern. It would help to compact the clay as you’re spreading it around too. Keep in mind the 5-degree slope rule. After the clay is compacted you can put topsoil over it or put your flowerbeds back.

A home requires a lot of maintenance and I can’t stress how important this particular item is. If you have a negative grade issue fix it as soon as possible.

This article is for general information purposes only. Rick Kelley Builders makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability of any information contained herein.

Knock Knock...

12/17/2015

Are you hearing knocking, ticking, popping, clicking, or clunking noises coming from your basement? It could be that you’ve got one hell of a mouse problem or, more likely, it’s your water heater. Actually to be more accurate it’s the sediment sitting in the tank of your water heater causing the noises.

Let’s take a quick break and review how water heaters work…

Water heaters are fairly simple, actually. On top of every tank you'll find the water supply (going in) and delivery pipes (going out). The supply pipe routes cold water to the bottom of the tank through the dip tube. The hot-water delivery pipe takes water from the top. For safety, all water heaters are equipped with a T&P valve (temperature-and-pressure relief valve). This valve opens if either the temperature or pressure of the water exceeds a safe limit. The valve is connected to a pipe that runs down the outside of the tank, ending about 6 in. from the floor. The T&P valve should not be connected to a drain.

OK now that we're all water heater experts let’s continue…

Don’t freak out…sediment is normal and it doesn’t mean your water is dirty or contaminated. Our water is full of minerals, lime, etc that settle to the bottom of the tank once the water is introduced to heat. As these things build-up, not only is less water able to be stored (meaning you’ll run out of hot water faster), but the bigger issue is the water heater has to use more energy heating things up that aren’t water. Also if that extra stuff in your water heater builds up enough the sediment can find it’s way out and cause problems with circulating pumps, check valves, and faucets. Keep in mind that even if your water heater is quietly doing it's job there is likely sediment hanging out in the bottom of the tank and it still needs flushed out.

So what’s the answer? It’s pretty simple…flush out your water heater.

Turn off the power source (either electricity or turn the pilot control to “away” or “vacation”). This makes it so the water will begin to cool before you flush it out, minimizing burns. Obviously make sure you do this when no one will be showering, washing dishes, or washing clothes. If you want your wife to flip out…turn off the water heater while she’s taking a shower!
Turn off the cold-water inlet (located on the cold water pipe coming into the water heater). Without turning the cold-water inlet valve off, water will continually pump into the tank and you’ll never get it drained.
Connect a garden hose to the drain valve and run the other end of the hose to a floor drain in your basement. Make sure the rubber gasket is on the hose when you attach it to the water heater otherwise water will spray all over your basement.
Let the water cool. You don’t want to be draining boiling hot water through a cheap garden hose while likely wearing your house slippers.
Turn on a faucet or two. Yes this seems weird but here’s why…opening a faucet or two stops any vacuum from forming in your pipes which will actually keep water from draining. You hopefully won’t see much water (if any) coming out but do it anyway.
Drain the tank. Open the drain valve (located in the vicinity of where you have the garden hose connected). Make sure you keep the water flow regulated so the floor drain or whatever you’re using doesn’t overflow thereby getting your house slippers wet.
Open the cold-water valve. Do this with the drain valve still open so fresh water will flood the tank and wash any remaining sediment out.
Close the drain valve and leave the cold-water valve on. This will allow the tank to refill.
Turn off the one or two faucets you turned on in step 5.
Turn your water heater on. This might mean simply turning the control on your gas water heater back to your desired temperature setting or, if you’re water heater is electric, flipping a switch, a breaker, or whatever.
Make sure your pilot light is lit if you have a gas water heater. It should’ve stayed lit if you just turned it to “away” or “vacation” but make sure before you walk away and call the job “done”.

Obviously this is just a vague and quick guide on how to flush your hot water heater. The actual conditions at your house may vary, your level of handiness may vary, or you just may not want to fool with this. In any of those cases call a licensed plumber and they’ll be happy to take care of this for you.

Remodeling with Pets?

12/9/2015

Remodeling can be a lot of fun for us but isn't always fun for our furry friends. A lot of our clients worry about their pets and how they will cope with the weird noises and disruptions to daily life that go along with a remodeling project.

We respect the homeowners’ wishes for their pets and have several conversations with our clients as to their preferences. If pets need to stay in a pen or closed off in a room, we are more than happy to let them in and out during the day, and our crews regularly feed and water our clients’ pets. But if an owner prefers their pet to roam free, which is OK with us, we are hyper-aware of where they are and how to keep them from harm. It’s a major responsibility that we don’t take lightly.

We have spent decades remodeling with pets in the house and agree on this generalization: Dogs tend stay as far away from vigorous and loud activity while cats like to be right up in the middle of things like a miniature supervisor.

Here are some tips to help make your pet’s remodeling experience better…

If your pet can handle it try and introduce him/her to the folks working in your home. We try to staff the same craftsman on our projects from the beginning to the end and that gives your pet a chance to get to know everyone and hopefully develop a decent comfort level.

Create a pet safe room where there is nothing happening. Put their favorite bed, toys, water bowl, etc in there with them so they feel more comfortable. Some of our clients also say that leaving a television or radio on in the safe room helps drown out some of the construction noise. The more comfortable your pet is the less likely future remodeling projects will be a problem for them.

Make sure to talk with your contractor about when finishes that might have bad odors or substances that might be irritating will be used so you can plan on keeping your pet away during that time.

Talk with your contractor about how they will clean the work area at the end of each day. We totally clean the entire work area and make sure all tools are put away too.

Here are some things we’ve noticed over the past 35 years…

Dogs HATE the sound of nail guns and air hissing through hoses running from air compressors. This is where the safe room and music or television going in the background helps.

Cats will get into everything and LOVE getting into newly exposed areas of your home like joist spaces, attics, and crawlspaces and it is HARD to get them out. We keep these areas sealed up when cats are present in the home.

Both cats and dogs LOVE heated floors.

If you let someone in your home your dog generally assumes that person is safe and wants to immediately be friends. If you choose to not lock up your dog during the remodeling of your home (we are generally OK with that as we love animals) make sure your dog won’t bug the folks working in your home too much…you want us to keep working and get your project done!

Remodeling is about relationships as much as it is about home improvement and your pets are an important part of the relationship. Please be sure to have detailed conversations with any craftsmen that come into your home about the safety of your pets.

For pet friendly remodeling in the Columbus, OH area call 614.437.2013.

Pictured above is our old, diabetic, and wonderful Corgi...Emma.

Water in your basement? Oh no!

Knock Knock...

Remodeling with Pets?

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Water in your basement? Oh no!

Knock Knock...

Remodeling with Pets?

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Archives

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Author