Ignore Water in Basement?

[Mark Beekman]

I have a split-level built in the early 70's that gets some water in the basement/downstairs living room, as well as the crawl space, during heavy rains. There is a water dam and a working sump pump in the crawl space, but it doesn't keep all of the water out. After a very heavy rain I can get up to a half an inch of water on the lowest part of the floor.

I am selling this house in a month or two and I'm wondering what I should do. I've been thinking of maybe improving the grading on the exterior of the house (which is currently flat and flush with the rest of the yard) and laying down an inorganic subfloor and tiling and/or carpeting over it. I was also thinking of Dry-Locking the entire basement and crawlspace.

Any thoughts from you seasoned flippers?

[J Scott]

If you know about the water issue, and you plan to provide a disclosure to the buyer, you are most likely required to disclose this fact (most state disclosure docs ask specific if you know of any water or dampness issues below grade).

If you disclose the issue, buyers are going to ask what you've done to remediate it, and if the answer is "nothing," that might scare off some buyers.

The bigger issue that buyers will worry about isn't the water itself, but the mold that will likely start to grow if the condition persists.

Personally, I'd try regrading to fix the problem, so you could at least be able to disclose that you tried to fix it. But, if the problem is severe and grading doesn't help, you should probably look into more complex solutions (foundation drain, dry-locking, water barrier on exterior, etc).

I know a lot of flippers will say don't worry about it, but if you're trying to build a good reputation, fix it...