If your home experiences frequent flooding or water buildup in the basement or crawlspace, our full water management systems, complete with interior drainage and sump pump installation, will help eliminate this issue, prevent severe and very expensive damage, and keep the area dry because protecting your home is a top priority.

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Hydrostatic Pressure

Ground water can easily enter the house from below through many access points: along the footer of the foundation, around support columns, through cracks in the floor and walls, seepage through the blocks, around windows, vents, and access doors and hatches, and anywhere it can find its way in. This is done so through Hydrostatic Pressure, which refers to the pressure water forces itself onto or into a surface. Water weighs in at over 60 pounds per cubic foot alone, and at this rate can easily push itself through even the smallest openings. Add to this the weight of all the soil surrounding the home once it becomes saturated with water and the pressure exerted on the foundation walls could exceed tens of thousands of pounds.

 

Once water and the pressure it can produce becomes an issue, it can lead to some of the most serious and expensive problems you can experience with your home. This can include structural damage, cracking and buckling of foundation walls, wood rot and other decay, damage to finished materials, furniture, equipment, and fixtures in a finished basement, and mold growth which can also have an impact on your health and overall air quality.

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If you are in the process of selling your house and there are flooding problems, it can reduce the value of the house and deter potential buyers, and inspectors will recommend repair in their reports.

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Solution

Problems with water intrusion can be corrected, and prevention can be accomplished by administering an efficient and thoroughly installed integrated waterproofing and pressure relief system. In almost every case, systems such as our full interior water management system will remove water before it has a chance to surface inside the home, and help relieve the external pressure that water puts onto the foundation.

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Our process, and what we are confident to be the most effective solution, uses tried and true concepts originating in the mid 1800's by Henry French (hence the term French drains), and improved over time by leading engineers. This includes a series of procedures and products designed to eliminate this problem, beginning with thoroughly assessing the situation and then formulating a plan of action. The work begins with removing any standing water if necessary, all items that are either damaged or are considered disposable debris are removed, and the space is prepped for excavation and installation. A full perimeter trench is created around all foundation walls. In cases when necessary lateral trenches are also dug to target water intrusion in the middle areas of the floor, and sometimes only partial systems are necessary to target specific areas/walls if water intrusion only seems to occur on one place (partial systems can always be extended in the future if ever necessary). Weep holes are drilled and dimpled drainage matting is installed along the bottom course of block (if walls are constructed from hollow core blocks) to drain water built up inside of the walls and into the system, and to relieve pressure. Next, a pit is dug for the sump basin and pump, and if necessary a second pit is dug for an additional pump. The trenches and basins are then lined with a filter fabric to help prevent sediment from entering and potentially clogging the system. Perforated drainage pipe is then installed in the trenches and surrounded with gravel. These pipes catch and channel the water throughout the entire area as it rises before it can reach the surface of the floor, directing it to the sump basin. The water is then removed by a heavy duty sump pump which is plumbed with PVC pipe, and includes a check valve to prevent water from flowing back into the system, discharging the water an adequate distance away from the house. Finally, in basements, fresh concrete is poured over the trenches level to the existing floor, and the site is cleaned up, and you are left with a dry basement or crawlspace and a system that will keep it that way!

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Other additional procedures if necessary include battery backup pumps and portable generators to provide added protection in the event of power outages or primary pump failure; cleanout ports to flush out the system if ever necessary; threshold drains if an outside doorway floods into the indoor space; window and access well taps to help prevent seepage around windows and access hatches; and discharge freeze guards to allow water to exit the pipe in case it ever clogs or freezes.