How to waterproof a base.

Being an experienced project manager and foundation repair expert, I strongly recommend that most homeowners not attempt a complicated basement waterproofing construction on their home. The key explanation would be the potential for disastrous consequences related to the structural stability of the house.

Accurate basement waterproofing involves specific procedures and a thorough understanding of the load distributions in your residence.

There are many over-the-counter products that advertise some type of basement waterproofing remedy. Almost all of them are sealants for your walls, some are latex based, others concrete backed. Keep in mind that these products work like a Band-Aid and, in most cases, do not stop the powerful force that water exerts on foundation walls and floors. To avoid wasting time, energy, and money, I strongly recommend against using any of these popular products.

There are two ways to solve your foundation waterproofing problems. The former requires the expensive task of digging a trench around the entire foundation, laying down a special material on the exterior walls, forming a barrier, and building a drainage network under the foundation around the entire perimeter of your house. to collect the water, divert it to a pump and remove it from the foundation.

In future reports I will describe in detail what an exterior waterproofing project entails. But, some things to contemplate will be, will you be able to get under the driveway and any concrete walkways or patios? The price of such a company is prohibitive for the value of your property.

During my 20+ years of residential remodeling, the most cost effective technique for waterproofing a foundation remains to build an interior waterproofing system.

Now, I will explain what I think are the best procedures to eliminate basement foundation water problems.

How to waterproof a base.

1. Checking your gutters and downspouts to ensure water is removed from the area around your foundation is definitely imperative. The typical home has more than 2,400 square feet of roof, and when it rains a considerable amount of rainwater is captured.

2. Have an excavation business survey your land to determine which way the ground slopes and if it is in the direction of your house. It is possible by using precise excavation, that they can redirect water from the foundations. This technique is not as widely accepted compared to others, but I have seen decent success in specific situations. Only a competent excavation company can conclude if it can be of help. The slope of your surrounding property does not always contribute to the cause.

3. Basement waterproofing systems. There are many companies that offer internal basement waterproofing systems. If you need help figuring out which one is best for your circumstances, feel free to email me for some systems that are far superior to others depending on the circumstances.

The following is a superior system that I recommend, as well as what to expect from a construction standpoint for the homeowner.

Please note that the following is not a DIY basement waterproofing project.

A competent basement waterproofing company will start with an exterior inspection of the property to see if your problem is due to the exterior slope or just your gutter and drainage system.
Once that is established, you can be sure that fixing basement water problems will likely be more complex.

What to expect from your build.

For starters, the waterproofing company will come in with a considerable amount of labor, as what they are going to do is remove large amounts of concrete, dirt, and debris from the lowest level of your home. Using a single electric cement drive hammer, they will begin cutting into the basement floor in an area twelve to sixteen inches away from the foundation walls. They will cut a line around the perimeter leaving concrete structural spacers that will act as support members for your walls, without the spacers you would be in strict violation of building codes. When the perimeter is cut, workers will begin manually removing heavy pieces of cut concrete. After scooping the concrete out of your basement in buckets, they will begin digging a trench down to the precise space, ensuring one of the most important factors, which is not undermining the footings of your basement.

Subject to the size of your basement, workers will begin cutting sump pump pits, you may need more than one, although two are recommended for the typical basement.

Once the trench is dug, the workers will begin to lower, in buckets, the correct size stone to fill the trench, usually this is stone number 4, but it depends on your individual requirements. They will fill the trench with stone and begin laying a unique pipe with perforations to capture water that travels between the cove area and under the foundation, causing water to seep inside.

This pipe will go around the perimeter of your basement and tunnel under the structural spacers that were not cut. Other areas that cannot normally be cut will be under any heating and cooling systems, water tanks, oil tanks, or structural beams.

This pipe will lead to the sump pit which has a special container and a unique underwater pump, sometimes called a Zoeller pump. There are many categories of pumps and water level detection systems that will activate the pumps in the event of water penetration. As a general rule, it is strongly recommended that part of the basement trench system go in one direction and the other in the opposite direction. If you have installed sump pits with pumps, you will have a closed system with excellent support. Depending on the pump, it is not uncommon for a system to be able to remove 20,000 gallons of water per hour. Speaking of which, I also suggest installing a battery backup system, although this is likely to add to the expense, if a major weather event occurs and power is lost, the basement waterproofing system will still work.

After the pipe is installed, they will fill the trench with additional stone and then place a heavy-gauge plastic cover over the trench, on top of the stone, extending about 4 inches up the foundation wall. Once installed, workers will begin mixing concrete and begin filling the trench cavity to return the basement floor to its normal state.

An additional technique I would recommend would be to drill holes in every foot of the foundation walls, never at the top but at the suggested level below. These holes are filled with plastic plugs that are equipped with perforated outlets and are known as convection ports. These ports allow air to pass through the foundation walls, which helps with pressure, water buildup, and any mold or mildew problems that exist.

Added recommendations are to have 2 outlet pipes for each separate sump pump in case of an internal pump malfunction or blockage within the outlet pipe on the outside.

So, to summarize, do-it-yourself basement waterproofing is most likely not a feasible project for the typical homeowner.