There are many responsibilities that come with buying a home. As you check off all the must-haves, make sure to include on your list of priorities a good drainage system around your home. It is easy to be consumed by all the details that go into making the standing edifice, but the surrounding environment is just as important when setting your home up.
There are various benefits to having a drainage system for your home. Using a good trench drain system will remove excess water, help prevent water damage, and deter the impact of water on any work that needs to be done on the property. Let’s take a look at some reasons why the importance of good drainage around your home should be considered.
Support the Structural Soundness of Your Home and Its Foundation
Did you know that if you do not have a good drainage system around your home, you risk the structural integrity of your home? That’s right. A home without a solid foundation will fall and no homeowner wants that. You want the house to stand securely and be liveable.
Water can cause a lot of damage. Sometimes water damage is not immediately seen, but gradually makes its presence known.
Water damage can create instant risk factors such as landslides or mudslides. Water damage that gradually sets in can cause cracks and structural damage to the foundation of the home causing it to be uninhabitable. A house, when settling in, may gather cracks in the walls here and there, but if the cracks become excessive, you may want to check the foundation.
Damage to a home’s foundation creates a situation of high risk because it’s not always readily noticeable like damage to walls, floors, and ceilings. Having a drainage system can help you avoid this risk and maintain the structural integrity of your home.
Avoid Negative Environmental Impact
When water is left to not drain or drained improperly, this can lead to various environmental problems on the grounds of your home like standing water and soil erosion. As mentioned previously, water damage can undermine your home’s structural soundness. Standing water can seep in and undo your home’s foundation.
Standing water can also become a breeding ground for undesired pests and wildlife like mosquitoes, water spiders, and frogs. Standing water or water that has seeped into cracks in the home, like basement and attic walls can attract animals like snakes.
Soil erosion can shift your soil out of place, messing up landscaping, but also disrupting soil depth creating future landscaping problems. It may become challenging or impossible to create an environment in which plants can flourish.
Stay Safe and Healthy
Water can create multiple health and safety risks when not being drained properly. This makes having a good drainage system important for hygiene and health. Undrained water can create environments for water contamination, bacteria, and more. This can lead to disease.
There are many things that are not evident to the naked human eye. A lot of those include the development of harmful viruses, bacteria, and fungi. A secret enemy in homes is mold. Excess water creates a perfect breeding ground for it. A drainage system will prevent the accumulation of moisture that leads to the growth of mold, mildew, and dust mites.
In addition to health risks, accumulating or standing water can create danger zones on your property. These zones create fall risks. For example, someone could visit and not notice a puddle or underestimate how deep the puddle is and slip and fall. Water can also be tracked from outside, forming more areas of opportunity for fall risks. It’s also just unseemly.
Conserve Energy in Your Home
Your energy bill may go up if you are not properly draining the water in your home. Having a good drainage system can help conserve energy and, as a result, save on energy costs. An opportunity to lower your expenses is a good thing.
Water accumulation can have your home systems working harder than usual, hiking up your costs. Additionally, more costs can be added on when additional expenses are needed to fix damages done to machines and structures by water.
Protect Your Yard
When you drive up to your home, you see your house and your yard. Both can become a sore spot when you don’t have a good drainage system and your yard you might notice first. Installing a good drainage system will help you protect your yard’s landscaping and save money.
Landscaping work can be expensive and it would be a shame to have it all washed away by flooding water or entirely rearranged from soil erosion and slides. You want to keep a healthy landscape. Previously, some of the negative environmental impacts were mentioned. These, too, will impact the state of your yard.
Having standing water in your yard can damage the foliage, drown the plant life, and make it for anything to grow. This will be compounded by the attraction and breeding of bacteria, disease, and pests. Soil erosion can completely upset the state of your landscape, creating dry patches and moving around different areas of your yard.
Protecting your yard with a good drainage system will help you maintain a healthy yard and the overall attractiveness of your landscape. It will also help prevent any problems with your neighbors and organizations such as your HOA.
A good drainage system is one of the hidden elements of the home that is essential to making it liveable. It is a small practical function that leaves a big impact. Drainage systems work to remove excess water and prevent flooding. It contributes to conserving energy, health and safety, landscape protection, and the structural security of your home’s foundation.
Just like with most home tools and resources, there are different kinds of drainage systems that can best be used for your home. The varying types of systems are constructed differently with specific functions. You can install drainage systems yourself with helpful DIY videos or seek out professionals for this service.