Serving Yakima
Groundwater & Basement Water Intrusion in Yakima, WA
Basement seepage, failed sumps, and hydrostatic pressure against the foundation are extracted and dried, and the path from the ground is identified so the loss does not repeat. Groundwater and basement seepage are extracted and dried only after the path from the soil is identified — a wall, a slab, a drain, or a failed sump. Drying the interior without stopping that path returns the same water to the same floor.
Frequently asked questions
The basement is wettest in July.
That is the irrigation season rather than the weather. Heavy application across the surrounding area raises the local water table through exactly the months when almost no rain falls, so the ground is wetter in high summer than in winter. It is one of the clearer cases anywhere of a water problem that has nothing to do with rainfall.
Nine inches a year is close to desert.
It is, and rainfall is genuinely not the main mechanism here. What moves water through this valley is the canal system and the snowmelt coming out of the mountains, both of which operate on schedules unrelated to local weather. Judging the risk by the rain gauge misses almost everything that matters.
The ground stops taking water at a certain depth.
In much of this valley there is basalt or a cemented hardpan layer not far down, and infiltration stops abruptly at it. Water moving down reaches that layer and then spreads sideways, arriving at foundations as lateral flow at shallow depth. The surface can look dry while that is happening beneath.
Open the Yakima FAQ beside the housing and climate notes.