Most people want to know that their home is running smoothly, especially when the basics are in question. The foundation of your home – the basement is where you keep all the instruments to keep your home comfortable. The furnace is there, air-conditioning, electrical power boxes, and often the laundry facilities. In addition, you probably store stuff there like photographs, books, and boxes with personal items. Many people also have finished basement with entertainment, office space or extra bedrooms in mind.
So, keeping the basement dry is vital to keeping your home’s operations efficient and relaxing. The last thing you want to discover is that you have a problem with water or moisture in the basement. Finding that your furniture is damaged or you have lost precious photographs can be heart-breaking not to mention expensive or impossible to replace.
Every homeowner should have a list of maintenance items for their home to make sure problems are nipped in the bud or don’t happen at all. Making sure you have your basement waterproofed can give you the confidence that water problems in your basement can be avoided. Calling in professionals with loads of experience can provide you with that assurance. Benchmark Waterproofing has decades of experience in basement waterproofing.
What if your basement isn’t waterproofed?
Some of the signs of problems in your basement beyond seeing water pool on the floor includes obvious cracks, staining on the walls, warping of flooring or door jambs, a damp and musty smell. If you have windows in the basement casings you might also see splits or broken joints. Cracks will get bigger over time and when there is serious rain or excess spring run-off, you may find water has found its way inside. Staining is often the result of water having been there and receded or it is evidence of water seeping through the concrete or masonry. Water can damage flooring leaving squishy, smelly carpeting or lifting tiles. Windows that are below ground level can be the source of the problem if the window wells haven’t been properly installed or maintained.
What to do
See if you can identify any obvious sources for your problem. Look around inside and then do an outdoor inspection of your property. In addition to the faults you could find in your foundation, you might find that there is an outdoor culprit like landscaping that is shooting roots into your foundation or piping. You might have a problem with the water spouts on your eavestroughing. Is the soil around your home saturated? Is the soil next to your home sloped toward your foundation or away to draw water away? There are also things you might not be able to see easily that the professionals at Benchmark Waterproofing will be able to identify such as problems you’re your weeping tiles system.
Basement waterproofing
Professionally waterproofing your basement from the exterior is the preferred method of getting access to the walls of your foundation. It also means less disruption to the interior of your home. It facilitates access to conduct repairs, clean and seal the foundation masonry. Applying a rubber membrane to the concrete or cinderblocks prevents water from entering your basement in the future.
The trained team will dig out a trench around the base of your home, making sure to expose all of the potential problems. They will fix the cracks and fill them with expandable epoxy to allow for future temperature changes. While the area is open, they will repair or replace the weeping tile bed and ensure the drainage is away from your property. Once the walls are repaired and cleaned, they will apply the membrane and fill in the trench using gravel and soil – making sure it is sloped away from your home. Again, if you have windows, special attention will be paid to repairing or replacing the window well equipping it with new drainage system to draw water away from the window. Finally, debris, tools and other items will be removed to make sure your property gets back to looking beautiful.
Benchmark Waterproofing has the trained professional teams you need to work on your basement. They will conduct a full inspection of your property to find where the water is getting in and make sure it doesn’t in the future. Even if you haven’t had water problems in your basement, you should be proactive and take the step to waterproof it before you do! You’ll get a free estimate of the cost in both time and money to bring you assurance your home’s basement will be comfortably dry for whatever purposes you use it. Call today.