When the Raritan River floods you can have a wet basement in Bound Brook, NJ

Bound Brook is a Borough of Somerset County, NJ. The Borough is 1.69 square miles and is home to over 10,000 residents (U.S. Census 2010).

Early settlers came to the area in the mid 1600’s and lived by Bound Brook. The Brook feed into another larger brook, Green Brook, and then onto the Raritan River.

When the Borough was incorporated in 1869 it had been a portion of the Township of Bridgewater. The Borough was named after the brook the early settlers discovered.

During the American Revolution, a battle ensued called the Battle of Bound Brook. It occurred on the Queens Bridge, which was a covered bridge at one time, over the Raritan River.

Can you seal a wet basement in Bound Brook, NJ?

When you paint the inside of your basement wall, you can slow down moisture, but not water. You are not eliminating the water from entering the cement block wall from outside. You can literally put on 10-20-100 coats of paint, but it will never hold the water back. Once the hydrostatic pressure builds up, it will force itself through at some point. Paint does not provide concrete foundation sealing, it’s just paint, so pick a nice color.

The long-term problems with moisture in your concrete block walls is that it will eventually start to deteriorate your basement walls, possibly causing structural damage. If your basement is leaking, the problem can’t be solved with paint.

Do you need a sump pump, or a French drain, or both?

Rain falls down and the water table rises up. It happens all the time, and when it rises enough it can come right up through your floor. Installing a French drain around the inside perimeter is most commonly done after the house has been built. Most often, this is done in response to a wet basement or right before performing a basement finishing.