Foundation Repairs and Waterproofing
A Damaged Foundation Leads to a Wet Basement
Small or large, cracks in a foundation and improper drainage around the home leads to water entering the basement of the home.
In order to understand how water can enter your home through your foundation, it is important to know how a foundation is designed.
The picture on the left shows a typical foundation. In it you will see that the foundation is built on a stone base. Around the outside of the home below the level of the foundation is weeping tile. Weeping tiles are perforated pipes that collect excess water. Generally these pipes are connected to your sump pump which pumps excess water buildup up and out of the home or to a stone pit away from the house.
On the outside concrete of the foundation is a waterproof membrane. In older homes the waterproof membrane was tar, in newer homes plastic solutions such as pluton or blue skin are used to waterproof the outside of foundations. Pluton is a bumpy plastic coating. You may have seen it on home improvement shows. It’s black and is attached to the foundation wall using rivits or screws. Blue Skin is a solid piece of rubber that adheres to the side of the foundation using a glue.
Some home builders place the weeping tile below the footing of the foundation, while others place the weeping tile on top of the concrete footing for the foundation wall.
How does water enter through the foundation?
Water enters through the foundation through the following process;
- Water collects close to the foundation. This happens for a variety of reasons. It could be that your downspouts are not far enough away from your foundation. It could be that your hose was left running and created a pool of water beside the foundation. The grade of the soil around your home could be negative, meaning sloaping in toward your house, causing rainwater to collect around the foundation. It could also be that the weeping tile is incorrectly installed around your house or blocked by roots or dirt.
- Once water has collected against the foundation of your house, the pressure of the dirt and the freezing and thawing cycles, or the house settling can cause a crack to form in the foundation. Once a crack has formed, water will enter the crack. Over the winter the water in the top part of the crack will freeze, and the water in the lower part of the crack will remain liquid. The freezing and thawing of the water can cause the crack to grow, allowing more water in. A small foundation crack can sometimes grow into a larger foundation crack or more serious foundation damage if it not addressed.
