I had to create a video for a waterproofing company about ten years
ago and I learned more about waterproofing than I care to remember.
But the one thing I will never forget it that if a company installs a
sump pump in the basement of your home, installs a series of tiles
along the perimieter and under your basement floor to collect that
water to take it to the sump pump, then you want to stay as far away
from that company as possible. Using this method, the water is still
coming into the foundation of your home, running through the concrete
block and into the tiles under your basement floor - while all of this
is cost effective and keeps your basement dry, what they don't tell
you is that your foundation is being weakened by the water that is
flowing through the cement block. We interviewed a woman who had this
done to her home about 20 years earlier - the foundation of her home
was literally caving in! Waterproofing your home must be done from
the outside. You need to dig around the perimeter of the home,
replace or clean out any broken drainage tiles, back-fill slag over
the drainage tiles. Then you need to seal the foundation wall with a
tar like substance and put a plastic shield along the foundation.
Fill the hole with good clean soil up to approximately 1 foot to 18
inches to the top. The remaining foot to 18 inches should be filled
with drainage slag. Cover the slag with top soil and make sure that
top soil is slanted away from the foundation.
Before you get expense waterproofing done, you should always check the
gutters and downspouts for possible blockage - this can cause the
gutters to overflow causing water in the basement. Also, check to
make sure that all of your soil is sloped away from the foundation.
These are very simple issues but they can make the difference between
a dry or wet basement -- even more important they can be the
difference between a little elbow grease and a huge waterproofing
bill.
Good Luck! I hope this helps |
