Outdoor Projects To Enhance Your Home’s Water Resistance

Waterproofing your home doesn’t start and end with the roof and basement walls. There are all kinds of things you can do to ensure the wet stuff stays safely outside and some of them even have other bonus features included too.

Assessing Your Homes Current Water Resistance

Before you can go about improving your home’s watertightness, you first have to have a reasonable understanding of what is working and what might be a potential weakness in your home’s defenses.

Some things to keep an eye out for include:

• Pooling Water Unsurprisingly, water pooling near your home is a sign that you might have drainage issues.
• Damaged Gutters Your gutters are responsible for taking the rainwater from your roof and ensuring that it drains harmlessly away. If they’re damaged, they might not be doing this very effectively.
• Signs Of Water damage If you’re noticing cracks in your basement walls, damp patches appearing, either inside or out or peeling wall coverings, water is probably getting in somewhere.

While this is by no means an exhaustive list, it does give you some pointers as to where to get started.

Project 1: Improving Gutter System

Your roof takes the brunt of any rain which falls on your home and that water has to go somewhere. Gutters ensure that it’s directed away from your home to where it can’t do any harm.

If your gutters become blocked or broken, there’s a risk that rainwater will build up and overflow, getting where it shouldn’t be.

Luckily, gutters are pretty easy to maintain. Ensure that they’re kept clear and free of moss and other debris- getting up on a ladder (or calling in a professional) once or twice a year, especially in the fall will work wonders. 

Installing gutter guards will make this even easier as less debris will find its way in in the first place.

If you find that you’re experiencing a drip from where two pieces of gutter connect, you can seal it with silicone as a quick-fix solution. Simply lift the joint and ensure it’s clean before sealing it up again.

Project 2: Optimizing Landscape Grading

Grading refers to the way in which the landscaping around your home helps to divert water away from your foundations. Usually, your home will be built on a high-point to allow water an easy path away from your basement walls.

If you’re experiencing problems with water intrusion, you might consider having your home regraded, though this is a fairly massive undertaking. 

Less drastic options (which can also be a lot more aesthetically pleasing than an excavated trench) include swales and rain gardens.

Swales 

A shallow channel with gently sloping sides can provide a great way to direct water away from your home as water flows downhill. They can be planted up or turfed over and with clever planning can really enhance your property’s landscaping.

Rain Gardens

Less dramatic than a swale in terms of digging, a rain garden is a shallow area of ground which receives rain run-off from your roof. Fill the area with plants that love to be waterlogged in the center with more drought-resistant ones to the edges. This will reduce the speed at which water enters your drainage systems and help to prevent flooding- and look great while doing it.

Project 3: Installing A French Drain

While it may not do much for the aesthetic appeal, a French drain can work wonders on your basement waterproofing efforts.

A French drain is effectively a horizontal drainpipe which sits under the ground and allows subsurface water an easy escape route away from your basement walls.

To install a french drain, first you’ll have to work out where water is being retained and then dig a trench from there to a place where it will do less harm. Once the drain is in place, it can be reburied and the garden put back in order.

It’s important that the planning stage is done carefully- getting the pipe in the wrong place or misjudging the depth runs the risk of the system not working or, worse, making your water problems more serious. If unsure about doing it yourself, consider hiring professional drainage experts to get the job done.

Project 4: Enhancing Soil and Garden Beds

Not only is enhancing your soil great for your green-thumbed ambitions, allowing you to change your soil type to a certain extent, it can also do great things for your home’s waterproofing.

Certain types of soil, particularly clayey and other dense types such as loam or compacted silt, have a habit of retaining rain water.

This builds up until the ground becomes waterlogged and then any more liquid which is added has to go somewhere- potentially into your basement.

By mixing in top-soil, manures, composts and other enhancing materials, not only do you help your soil to drain more easily, you can also improve your horticultural results too.

Another potential option for the garden-minded is the addition of raised beds. Not only will they provide an excellent place for growing things, they also allow surface water to drain more slowly, giving the subsurface time to diffuse before becoming waterlogged.

Project 5: Sealing and Protecting Outside Surfaces

While concrete can be relatively waterproof when in good condition, exposure to the elements will eventually take its toll. Movement and pressure, cycles of freeze and thaw will eventually open micro-cracks and these will eventually expand. 

Sealing concrete, brickwork, wood and other outdoor hard surfaces like driveways and patios will not only preserve their waterproofing effects long term, it will keep them looking their best longer too.

Choosing the right sealant for the job is vital:

• Outdoor wood: Should be either undercoated and painted with gloss or varnished.
• Concrete and brickwork: Should be painted or treated with a crystalline treatment.

Project 6: Strengthening Exterior Foundations

A home’s foundation is its first line of defense against water intrusion. Over time, factors such as soil erosion, heavy rainfall, and natural settling can weaken its stability, leading to cracks and structural vulnerabilities. Ensuring your foundation is properly reinforced and sealed can prevent water seepage and costly damage.

Simple maintenance tasks like filling foundation cracks with hydraulic cement, improving drainage around your home, and applying waterproof sealants can go a long way in keeping water out. In more severe cases, professional foundation repair may be necessary to address structural concerns.

For coastal homes, erosion can accelerate these issues, making shoreline protection a crucial aspect of property maintenance. Investing in Seawall repair Florida Keys (or another local area) can help prevent land loss and flooding, providing long-term stability against rising tides and harsh weather conditions.

Maintaining a nice dry home really is a holistic effort- it’s always best to consider both inside and out and look at how every aspect of your property contributes to the overall effect.

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