Cause of Flooded Basements

A flooded basement can happen to anyone and can be an unlucky shock to an unsuspecting homeowner like a flash of lightning. Even if you’ve never had a flooded basement you can get one.

There are a few causes to a flooded basement. They can be caused by a leaking foundation wall, sanitary or storm sewer backup, or faulty plumbing.

A Leaking foundation requires basement waterproofing. This happens when groundwater finds cracks in you basement foundation wall and over years, freezes and thaws causing the crack to increase in size eventually cracking  through to the other side. This is also caused by hydrostatic pressure which the is the pressure of groundwater do to resistance of the ground and gravity pushing water to the path of least resistance

There are a number of ways to solve the problem of a leaky basement. There are interior drains, exterior drains, and crack injections. Each with its own reason for choosing it and each with its own difference in price.

Exterior drains are the most expensive and should only be done when interior drains arn’t feasible. These involve excavation of the ground, application of a barrier wrap to the foundation wall, and installation of a weeping tile drainage system along with some gravel.

Interior drains are the the second most expensive basement waterproofing solution. These involve breaking up of the concrete floor, installation of a weeping tile drain alongside the footing leading into a sump pump, and installation of a dimple board wrap to drain water into the weeping tile.

Last and least expensive by a lot is the concrete crack inejction. These can only be injected into a concrete wall crack so if you have a block, stone or brick foundation you’ll need a difference basement waterproofing solution. There are two types of injections, the epoxy injection and the polyurethane injection. The epoxy injection adds structural strength; however, it can only be done in a dry crack while polyurethane can be injected into wet cracks and doesn’t add structural strength.

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Keywords: basement waterproofing