Grad­ing Problems

When a build­ing is first con­struct­ed, the top of the foun­da­tion should extend at least a few inch­es above the ground lev­el. Over time, as home­own­ers raise the sur­round­ing land­scape and add hard sur­faces such as con­crete or asphalt, water may begin to seep through the brick­work and over the top of the foun­da­tion wall. The prob­lem can also occur if your build­ing is sit­u­at­ed in a low-lying area or if a neigh­bor­ing prop­er­ty is sloped toward you, as both sit­u­a­tions would allow water to accu­mu­late along­side your building.

Our Base­ment Advi­sor will most like­ly rec­om­mend cor­rect­ing the prob­lem from the exte­ri­or. The process entails dig­ging a trench below the top of the foun­da­tion wall(s) and apply­ing a water­proof mem­brane over the joint where the struc­ture sits atop the foundation.

U.S. Water­proof­ing is a com­pre­hen­sive, full ser­vice water­proof­ing com­pa­ny. What we mean by that is we don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all solu­tion. In many sit­u­a­tions, we have found that exte­ri­or water­proof­ing is the most effec­tive solu­tion as it stops water fil­tra­tion right at source of the problem.

What are Exte­ri­or Water­proof­ing Membranes? 

An Exte­ri­or Water­proof­ing Mem­brane is a water­proof bar­ri­er applied below ground and to the out­side of the foun­da­tion. This is some­times done with sol­id sheets to pre­vent water from enter­ing, but sheets cre­ate seams, and those seams cause leaks over time that let water into your home. Instead, we use a flex­i­ble, seam­less, polyurethane liq­uid mem­brane that is applied with a hand trow­el. Once the mate­r­i­al cures (dries), it pro­vides a seam­less coat­ing that doesn’t leak and is impen­e­tra­ble to water. 

When would Exte­ri­or Water­proof­ing Mem­branes be used? 

It’s some­times imprac­ti­cal or unde­sir­able to water­proof a base­ment from the inte­ri­or. Below are rea­sons for Exte­ri­or Water­proof­ing Membranes:

• Seep­age over the top of the foun­da­tion — if the dirt or paving lev­el reach­es above the top of the foun­da­tion wall, it may allow water to seep into your home through the joint where your house sits atop the foundation
• Hon­ey­combed con­crete — Hon­ey­combed con­crete can form as soon as the foun­da­tion is con­struct­ed and usu­al­ly exists because the con­crete was mixed and con­sol­i­dat­ed poor­ly, leav­ing areas of the foun­da­tion wall that is jagged, coarse, and stony. These porous areas are com­mon areas for water intrusion
• Mason­ry foun­da­tions — when a home has a brick or stone foun­da­tion—often the case in old­er homes — the mor­tar hold­ing these walls togeth­er erodes due to water and can crack over time. An Exte­ri­or Water­proof­ing Mem­brane is the pre­ferred method as inte­ri­or water­proof­ing only traps the water and does noth­ing to pre­vent fur­ther dete­ri­o­ra­tion of the wall 
• Pre­serv­ing the base­ment and its many func­tions — a fin­ished base­ment is often used by the whole fam­i­ly, be it kids play­ing down there or adults enjoy­ing a home the­ater or a bar. Exte­ri­or Water­proof­ing Mem­branes does­n’t require pan­el­ing / dry­wall removal, or oth­er con­struc­tion incon­ve­niences, which means your base­ment stays intact and undisturbed

How does Exte­ri­or Water­proof­ing work? 

When exces­sive rain soaks into the soil, it cre­ates water­proof­ing prob­lems. The process of attack­ing the root of the issue starts with dig­ging a trench out­side the foun­da­tion, which is usu­al­ly done by hand to min­i­mize dis­rup­tions to land­scap­ing and oth­er areas around your home. We then apply a heavy-duty mem­brane coat­ing that cov­ers the foun­da­tion wall. Once that pro­tec­tive coat­ing dries, a seam­less bar­ri­er is formed to keep water out. Last­ly, we back­fill the trench with the exca­vat­ed soil.

When would Exte­ri­or Water­proof­ing not be the best solution?

Some­times, there are obstruc­tions on the exte­ri­or that are either too cost­ly or imprac­ti­cal to move. Exam­ples include decks, addi­tions or attached garages. We also need enough space to dig a trench and tem­porar­i­ly store the exca­vat­ed earth. Last­ly, if water is seep­ing through cracks in your base­ment floor, an Inte­ri­or Drain Tile Sys­tem might be the bet­ter solution.

If you think your house might ben­e­fit from exte­ri­or water­proof­ing, or would like fur­ther guid­ance, sched­ule your free con­sul­ta­tion online today.