Home › New Hampshire › Windham
Foundation Repair and Basement Waterproofing in Windham, NH
Windham's 2023 Master Plan describes soils where the water table sits at the surface five to nine months a year, bedrock within a few feet in other places, and significant granite ledge. Call (978) 800-2819 or use the form. A person reads every request and replies with what happens next.
- Free for homeowners
- Town and state rules on this page
- Cobbetts Pond to Golden Brook
Ask About Basement Service in Your Area
Tell us about the basement and what the water is doing. A person reads it and replies with what happens next.
Please add your name, a 10-digit phone number and a valid email.
Your request didn't go through on our end. Please call (978) 800-2819 so it isn't lost.
Too many requests have come from this connection in a short time. Please call (978) 800-2819 and we'll take it from there.
We couldn't finish the spam check. Wait a moment and send it again, or call (978) 800-2819.
Basements in Windham
What's the basement problem?
Waterproofing & Drainage
Wet walls, seepage at the floor joint and spring water in the basement, handled with interior drains, exterior work or both.
Sump Pumps
New pits, replacement pumps and battery backups, with the discharge going somewhere your town allows.
Foundation Cracks & Repair
Leaking cracks, bowing or settling walls and failing mortar in old fieldstone, with an engineer brought in when the job is structural.
Crawl Spaces & Finishing
Damp crawl spaces sealed up, and dry basements turned into finished space with the right permits.
Not sure what it needs?
(978) 800-2819Tell us whether the water comes with the seasons or with every storm, and we'll help you work out the job.
Permits
Permits and rules for basement work in Windham
Building Inspections, part of Community Development at 3 North Lowell Road, 603-432-3806, issues building and trade permits through the town's permitting portal, where you request an account and wait for staff to grant access. Inspections are done daily, generally 10 am to 2 pm, with 24 hours' notice, and the inspector won't enter an occupied home unless someone is there (Building Inspections; inspection schedule).
- Building Inspections
- Community Development, 3 N Lowell Rd; 603-432-3806
- Apply online
- Windham permitting portal (account approved by staff)
- Building permit fee
- $25 application plus $0.35 per sq ft heated, $0.12 per sq ft unheated
- Egress
- Window type and size required on the application
- Frost line
- 4 feet, under the town's local code amendments
- Sewer
- None in town; private septic
Basements are on the permit form. The town's resident building permit form, which carries no date, charges a $25 application fee plus $0.35 per square foot for heated areas and $0.12 for unheated areas, and lists "Basement" among the unheated spaces. Plans must show the basement and first and second floors, and the submittals include "Window type and size for emergency egress," an energy compliance report, and fire department approval for propane or oil appliances. The permit is void if work doesn't start within 180 days (Resident Building Permit). A plumbing permit for an addition or remodel is $40 up to 800 square feet, plus $10 for each additional 100, with a $30 minimum (Plumbing Permit). We didn't find whether interior waterproofing or a sump install alone needs a permit; ask Building Inspections. New Hampshire is also partway through a building code change this year, so ask which code edition your permit falls under.
Local code amendments. Windham's local building code amendments set the frost line depth at 4 feet in the design criteria table and limit the small-structure permit exemption to 120 square feet (local code amendments).
Contractor rules. New Hampshire's Attorney General says, "In New Hampshire, contractors do not need to be licensed," and advises a written contract before any work or payment with the scope, materials, total price and payment schedule, plus references and proof of insurance; more than 50% down is a warning sign (NH Attorney General). Plumbers and electricians must be licensed unless an owner does the work in their own single-family home (Mec 300; RSA 319-C). A contract over $5,000 must include the RSA 359-G notice (RSA 359-G), and outside digging needs a Dig Safe ticket at least 72 hours ahead, not counting weekends and holidays (Dig Safe; RSA 374:51).
Last verified November 2026. Fees, restrictions and deadlines on this page are due for re-checking by November 2027. New England Basement Pros is a referral service. We don't pull permits or do basement work; the contractor files the permit.
Water
Where the water comes from in Windham
Wet soils and ledge. The 2023 Master Plan describes wetland soils where "The water table is at or near the surface five to nine months of the year," seasonally wet soils that "typically have a seasonal water table within 2 1/2 to 3 feet of the surface," and shallow-to-bedrock soils that "typically have bedrock within 1-3 feet of the surface." It also notes "Significant granite ledge," and says "Windham is more reliant on bedrock wells than any other town in the state" (2023 Master Plan). A basement cut into seasonally wet soil can sit in groundwater for months, and ledge can complicate any exterior digging.
Where the pump water goes. "There is no municipal sewer in Windham," the Master Plan says; homes use private septic systems (2023 Master Plan). Within the Wetland and Watershed Protection District, or within 100 feet of a contiguous wetland, "untreated stormwater discharge" is prohibited (Zoning Ordinance §601.4.6). The Storm Water Management Program ordinance, approved March 28, 2011, treats non-stormwater or contaminated discharges as illicit, gives 10 days to correct after a cease-and-desist order, and then fines $1,000 a day (stormwater ordinance). Sump pumps aren't named in it, so ask the town where your discharge may go. Running a drain line into the town right-of-way takes a Right-of-Way Activity Permit at $1.50 per linear foot, $100 minimum, with a Dig Safe ticket (Right-of-Way Activity Permit).
Lake lots. Around Cobbetts Pond, Canobie Lake, Rock Pond, Moeckel Pond and Shadow Lake, the Watershed Protection Overlay District requires a Minor WPOD permit with a site plan showing impervious area, capped at 30%, and an erosion control plan for residential building permits (WPOD permit).
Flood zones. The Master Plan says Windham's 100-year flood boundaries are mostly associated with Golden and Flatrock Brooks, and the zoning ordinance's floodplain section requires a permit for all development in a FEMA special flood hazard area (Zoning Ordinance §607). The flood map dates cited in the plan are old; look up the current map for your address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center.
Wide wetland buffers. The Wetland and Watershed Protection District reaches 150 feet from Beaver, Golden and Flat Rock Brooks; 100 feet from other brooks, streams, ponds and wetlands of an acre or more; 50 feet from wetlands over half an acre; and 25 feet from smaller ones, plus another 100 feet on slopes of 12% or more. "Excavation, filling, drainage, stump removal or surface alteration" needed for construction there takes a Planning Board special permit after a hearing, with a referral to the Conservation Commission (Zoning Ordinance §601). An exterior drain or regrading job near any of those lines should be sited before it's priced.
Windham's homes
Mostly newer houses on bedrock wells
The 2023 Master Plan counts 5,753 housing units as of September 2022, 86.7% of them single-family, with 2,248 built from 1990 to 2020 and 411 of those from 2010 on (2023 Master Plan). Newer foundations still sit in the same wet soils and ledge the plan describes, so when one of these basements is finished, the egress window on the permit and the water in the walls have to be planned together.
The town's historic districts page lists its districts, among them the Town Center at 3 North Lowell Road, Windham Depot and the Searles School and Chapel. The Historic District/Heritage Commission page says the commission "accepts, reviews and acts upon all residential building permits" and issues certificates of appropriateness for other applications in the districts (Historic District/Heritage Commission; 2023 Master Plan). Zoning also has a demolition and substantial-modification delay for historic buildings (§719). If your house is in or next to a district, ask Community Development before planning a bulkhead or window well.
Radon
Radon in Windham's basements and wells
Windham is in Rockingham County, one of the state's three highest for radon: in the August 2023 state data brief, half of the county's tested homes were at 7.9 pCi/L or higher, and statewide about 37% of 32,747 tested homes were at or above 4 pCi/L (NH radon data brief). The town's Well and Water Supply Regulations, approved April 21, 2014, require new wells to be tested for radon and gross alpha, among other things (Well and Water Supply Regulations). For the air, the state says to test in the lowest livable area, and EPA recommends fixing at 4 pCi/L or more; free kits come from the NH Radon Program at (603) 271-1708 (testing your home).
FAQ
Windham basement questions
Do I need a permit to add a basement bedroom in Windham?
Plan on it. Windham's resident building permit form lists the basement as a space type, asks for plans showing the basement, and requires the window type and size for emergency egress. Talk to Building Inspections at 603-432-3806 before the work starts.
Where does sump water go in Windham?
There is no municipal sewer in Windham, so it stays on your lot. Within the Wetland and Watershed Protection District or within 100 feet of a contiguous wetland, untreated stormwater discharge is prohibited, and the town's 2011 stormwater ordinance can fine illicit discharges $1,000 a day.
How far from a brook or wetland can I dig?
Windham's protection district runs 150 feet from Beaver, Golden and Flat Rock Brooks, 100 feet from other brooks, streams, ponds and wetlands of an acre or more, and 50 or 25 feet from smaller wetlands, with 100 feet more on slopes of 12% or steeper. Excavation, drainage or surface alteration there needs a Planning Board special permit.
Why is digging outside so hard in Windham?
The 2023 Master Plan notes significant granite ledge and shallow-to-bedrock soils with bedrock within 1 to 3 feet of the surface. Windham's local code amendments also set the frost line at 4 feet.
What does it cost me to use New England Basement Pros?
Nothing. Asking is free for homeowners; the contractor prices the job, and the price and contract are between you and them.
Nearby