How to keep your basement dry this spring

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Plus, how to patch holes in cement steps.

By Mark Philben, The Boston Globe

April 18, 2025

3 minutes to read

We are currently working on a renovation project at a house that has basement flooding issues. Given the spring rains and the already melted snow from the winter, the water tables in many areas are high right now. This reminded me of quite a few questions that I’ve received from readers, as well as some spirited feedback. Some key points to think about to keep our homes dry as we make our way through an often-wet spring:

Gutter guards

The right gutter guard, properly installed, can have its benefits. One of our pet peeves is that they aren’t foolproof, and many homeowners are unaware that you need to do regular maintenance of the system, especially downspouts and leader pipes. The home we are working on had downspout elbows packed with debris, causing water to back up and pond at the corner of the house. We think this is one of the sources of the water in the basement. So please maintain the water management system regardless of whether you use gutter guards and pull that water away from the foundation.

Sump pumps and French drains

Many homes with high water tables are basically like a bowl submerged in water. You may see water come in from this corner or that corner, but the water table is most likely surrounding your whole basement. French drains around the perimeter leading into a sump pump are the gold standard for dealing with a high water table. They are basically an underwater gutter system for your home. For any number of reasons such as utility locations, structural issues, or cost, they can be prohibitive. We have had projects where two carefully placed sump pumps that discharge to the outside have kept a basement from flooding. Depending on a home’s location and topography, this could be a far less invasive procedure. We advise all our clients to include a battery backup for your sump pump or French drain system. These are very simple to add when the pumps are installed. So often you will need the sump pump to work in a heavy storm, which is also the most likely time to lose power. The battery backup switches over immediately when you lose power. Highly recommended.

Proper grading 

Finally, proper grading outside the perimeter of the house is also important. Often, we have seen homes where landscaping has taken precedence and deep mulch beds have formed berms that prevent water from flowing away from the foundation. Worse, it traps the water! The earth should be highest against the foundation and flow away from it. Along the same lines, the downspouts work best when they have a leader pipe on the end pulling water at least 24 inches from the house.

Q. My 65-year-old raised ranch has a set of concrete front steps and a landing. Last year, I noticed holes at two places at the inside corners, where the rise meets the lower landing step. Are these a structural concern? Even if not, I would like to repair them, if only for cosmetic reasons. Suggestions?

Matthew

A. I am going to assume your question means a prefabricated set of concrete stairs. These were very common in raised ranches back then. They are also very sturdy because they were cast as a single monolithic concrete pour. The ones we have had to take apart have rebar or steel wire laced through them for strength. They are hollow underneath. All to say if you address those holes in a timely manner and keep water from getting in and under the stairs assembly, you should not have to worry about them structurally falling apart.

If the holes do not go all the way through, you can use any concrete/mortar patch to fill in the hole and then work it smooth to blend into the concrete face.

However, it sounds like the hole may go all the way through since those precast stairs are only 2+ inches thick. If that is the case, you will need to pack the hole with something, which can be tricky. This may sound crazy, but working in some window and door foam into the hole and letting it dry can give you a good base. Carve away the excess foam so you have ¾ to 1 inch of cavity to fill, then apply a bonding agent, then place your concrete or mortar repair over that. This is more time-consuming, with multiple applications, but it will hold up better than just trying to jam mortar into the hole and having it fall through the other side.

Mark Philben is the project development manager at Charlie Allen Renovations in Cambridge. Send your questions to [email protected]. Questions are subject to editing.