Do you have a wet basement? Here are some tips to keep it dry

A wet basement is a big problem. Unless you’re Sponge-Bob, water inside your house is not good. But what can you do about it?

For a lot of basement moisture—water weeping down walls, spot-soaked carpet, a musty smell—the fix actually starts outside house.

Check the landscape for areas where a little DIY can divert rain water away from your house. Water that saturates the soil around a foundation is a leading cause of a wet basement.

• Make sure the landscape pitches away from the house and not towards it. Fix by adding and grading soil.
• Divert water from downspouts. Use a landscape tube or French drain so the water is spread out and the ground can absorb it naturally.
• Keep gutters and downspouts free-flowing.
• Where water does spill into the landscape, use hard surfaces or a splash block to move it away from the house.
• Inside, a purpose-built wet basement dehumidifier can really make a difference.

Some basements cannot be dried out with landscaping. Old homes with stone foundations, for example, were designed to water through the walls to keep from being crushed by water pressure in the ground. To dry out a wet basement like that, you need a pro. Check for pros you can trust at HomeAdvisor.