Basement Waterproofing Case Studies: 128 Feet of WaterGuard added to basement in Clyde, NC
Challenge
These homeowners in Clyde, NC called us at All-Dry of the Carolinas to come look at their basement that was taking in tons of water. This basement had block walls and a cement floor and was being used as a storage space for the homeowners. As water would seep into the basement it was beginning to cause high moisture levels and dampness that was beginning to affect their belongings and home. This house already had a jack system in place to protect the stability of the floors, so this massive increase of water and moisture was a threat to an existing problem.
When the homeowners called us, all they could say was, “there is a lot of water coming into the basement and we don’t know how or where”. When we sent our design specialist, David Listovitch, to investigate the problem he noticed that water was seeping into the basement from where the wall and floor met. This water was being forced into the home due to hydrostatic pressure. Hydrostatic pressure is when ground water is forced down by gravity. As gravity is pulling down the water it might come into contact with basement walls, such as in this case. The gravity forces water against the wall until it finds a way to go around the wall or through it. In most cases, water finds a weak point in walls and begins to leak into basements. Since there is no such thing as stopping gravity (unless you’re in space) the best way to handle a situation like this is to have a system in place ready to catch the water and remove it from the basement.
Solution
David Listovitch quoted this family a mixture of waterproofing products that would result in a dry basement. WaterGuard, a SuperSump, and an Aprilaire were placed into this basement to fix this problem.
The basement was first jack hammered around the perimeter of the room so that the WaterGuard drainage system could be added. These homeowners decided to place WaterGuard around the entire perimeter of the room instead of just where the water was getting in. This is what we at All-Dry of the Carolinas recommend when placing WaterGuard into the basement. When you place the drainage system around the entire perimeter of the basement it works as a protectant for the entire basement instead of just one wall, that way there is almost no chance that you will have a leak problem in the future.
WaterGuard is placed into the trench around the basement and leveled sloping slightly in the direction of the SuperSump pump that is in the lowest spot of the basement. Once the WaterGuard is place in its trench and connected to the SuperSump Pump, it is flood tested by our crew to ensure that any water that is caught by the system will flow correctly. Once the system is in place it is covered with cement to make the drainage system invisible. The SuperSump Pump that is in the lowest corner of the basement is accessible by the top of the pump liner, this way it is able to be checked, cleaned, and serviced. The WaterGuard also has inspection ports installed in various sections of the drainage system so that it can be cleaned, flood tested, and serviced as needed.
An Aprilaire was added to the basement as well to remove moisture that is in the air. Excess moisture that is in the air was a threat to the already existing jack system that was in place to keep the floors level. The great thing about the Aprilaire is that it is energy efficient. It is equipped with a sensor that is able to detect the amount of moisture in the air, once it reaches an acceptable level the fan will shut off.
Our crew led by crew foreman Jose Najera, was able to install with system that consisted of 128 feet of WaterGuard, three WaterGuard inspection ports, one SuperSump Pump, and an Aprilaire, in three days. Since this system was installed there hasn’t been any problem with water intrusion into the basement. The homeowners can now use their basement as needed.
