There are obvious causes of a leaky basement and not so obvious causes.
Obvious causes of a leaking basement include the following scenarios --
A flood due to a torrential rain storm or natural disaster of some kind. In this case water may have actually broken through your windows or saturated the soil so much that the walls of your foundation have cracked or even collapsed and let water in your home. In this case it might take a professional contractor to pump the water out of your basement if the damage is bad enough. If it was a smaller storm that only left an inch or so of water on your floor you might be able to pump it out with a sump pump or even just vacuum the water up using a wet/dry type vacuum cleaner such as a Shop Vac.
A broken pipe can also cause a leaky basement. One of the biggest causes of flooding in basements in the winter is frozen pipes. The water inside the pipes expands causing the pipe to seam or crack. The result is water spillage often behind walls or in ceilings once the pipes actually thaw. Your first clue that this is going to be a problem is if you wake up on a cold morning and find no water coming out of your water taps. The best way to prevent this is to keep your basement well heated if you suspect cold weather is on its way. You can also buy flexible PVC type tubing that is less likely to crack or break due to cold then copper plumbing pipes.
Less obvious causes of a leaky basement are likely to be the following situations -
You have no eavestroughs to serve as gutters on the roof of your house. If this is so then water is simply going to fall straight down from your roof within inches of the side of your foundation walls. The pounding water drops from the roof run off quickly build pools of water that saturate the soil. This soil swells up and creates what is called hydrostatic pressure against the walls of your foundation. This can cause your masonry or walls to crack and water will seep through. If the soil behind your foundation walls is really soaking wet it can also cause a lot of condensation to form on the basement walls. Your best solution in this case is to buy those gutters for your roof and keep them clean.
Clogged up roof gutters can also cause your basement to flood. This is because roof water spills over the troughs filled with debris and directly down to saturate the soil at the side of your house with water. Moisture can then be increased in your basement in the form of an actual leak or condensation. If you don't have the patience or skill to keep your gutters clean then hire someone to do it.
Mysterious puddles in your basement are more than likely to be caused by hydrostatic pressure, which is a build up water in the soil just outside your foundation walls. The same goes for water that seems to be seeping through walls or if your walls seem sweaty. This is a potentially dangerous situation and hydrostatic pressure can build up to the extent that your basement walls collapse. This is the type of problem that requires the side of your basement walls to be dug up
Another much less obvious cause of water in your basement is simply humidity. This can cause water to build up on your walls. Condensation, especially on copper pipes can also create dripping pools of water behind walls or make your wall appear to sweat. Thankfully the remedy for this type of leaking is relatively easy. You can use a concrete patch to keep the water dripping behind your wall and from leaking onto your floor. You can also use a dehumidifier to keep the basement drier. Opening the windows of your basement and drying it out on sunny days is also a good way to keep leaks that are the result of humidity or condensation from getting worse.
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