How to Waterproof a Basement | Ron Hazelton's House Calls feat. Basement Systems

you know whenever it rains like that I cringe not because I'm worried about getting struck by lightning the chances of that are infinitesimal but the odds are pretty good probably 50/50 that my basement is going to flood in fact when it storms like that it's almost a guarantee that I'll be pulling this out and doing some pumping in fact during one particularly nasty storm not too long ago my basement looked more like a wading pool I pumped I swept I watched as the water kept coming in and I vowed that this was one scene I didn't want repeated so I began checking the internet for companies that offered state-of-the-art dry basement solutions I settled on one called basement systems and in a few days the founder himself Larry janeski arrived at the house hey Larry how are you great Ryan nice to see you come on e let me show you the problem all right so this is kind of the heart or core of the problem right here I notice that when we get heavy rains outside this is where the leaking seems to start right here in this corner also over here in that sump okay just this last year I had so much water that was actually coming up out of a sump and flooding the basement here right what's going on here and why is it coming here because that's my question yeah well you know there's there's too Larry explains that when it rains water saturates the soil and begins pressing against the basement walls and the underside of the floor water can begin to flow into the basement through cracks and joints and even penetrate the concrete itself we call it hydrostatic pressure and that water pressure pushes the water in at the weakest point which is that floor wall joint so how much pressure is there out here well it'll vary certainly on how hard it rains and from house to house but certainly enough to push water in water is a pretty small thing and concrete is porous so we don't stand a chance of trying to seal it out what we want to do is drain it away and relieve the pressure if this Larry also points out ample evidence that water has been migrating right through the basement walls you know you see all this white chalky powder stuff on here it's called efflorescence and it's minerals from the soil and the concrete that dissolve in the water the water comes through the wall very slowly and when the water evaporates it leaves the minerals behind so if you see this kind of chalk on your wall you know that you've got water that's been moving through that concrete yeah now this is another problem I've got right here if I get rain I'm get water that's coming in from the sides here at the bottom of the step I mean a good bit of water yeah and then it floods out into the basement this way so what's causing that that's pretty common you see this is a precast hatchway steps when it gets bolted to the foundation and when they try to backfill it's very difficult to backfill under there so it leaves a lot of voids so when it rains hard all the water goes down underneath here and fills up behind these steps and pushes the water in at this joint and even on the sides the only way it's almost like a funnel right well I'm sold so a few days later one of Larry's crews shows up and goes to work step one is to jackhammer a narrow trench around the perimeter of the basement next to the wall the crew also begins cutting a hole in the floor to provide a pit for the new sump that will collect all the water channel to it by the perimeter drain as fast as it's made the debris is hauled out of the basement one container at a time now remember the discoloration and staining on the walls well it's unsightly and evidence that some water is entering through the concrete the solution here is to put up polyethylene panels basement systems calls these bright wall panels they're attached by drilling quarter inch holes with a carbide masonry bit then pushing in ribbed plastic fasteners if the walls do leak the water will run down behind that panel and into our system but the homeowner does not see any of that water it doesn't nothing in the basement gets wet and it works way better than a coating because it can never come off of the wall once the wall panels are in place it's time to install what is the heart of the system these plastic drains will collect any incoming water and channel it to the sump the sections are laid end-to-end and connect it to molded corner pieces the drain in front of the door incorporates an open grate so that water can flow in from the top next the sump liner is dropped into position the drain is laid in place behind it and a tee connector is installed a short section of PVC pipe connects the drain to the sump the sub covers are set in place temporarily and crushed rock is used to fill the space between the liner and the well the covers of course prevent the run from spilling inside then the space between the drain and the edge of the trench is also filled with crushed rock if the drain is the core of the system the pump is the muscle actually there is not just one pump but three we have backup sump pump systems in the event that the pump is unplugged or circuit breaker trips or the pump fails the water will rise to a second pump in the event that the power goes out the water will rise to a third pump which is a DC operated pump it runs off a battery the main unit can move 2,400 gallons of water per hour but it doesn't stop there when both the primary and secondary pumps are online the system can remove over 7,000 gallons of water per hour for as long as I've been in my house I've worried about and suffered from a flooding basement well that's all going to stop today I'm putting in a state-of-the-art basement drainage system so far we've made a shallow trench around the perimeter dug a sump well covered the walls with polystyrene panels install the drain dropped in a sump liner and put in the pumps the system we put in so far will collect and contain any water that gets into the basement now Larry and his team have to create a way to get it out first two inch holes our board through the siding and rim joist just above the basement wall there will be a pair of drain lines coming out of the basement one for the primary pump and a second for the backup unit now larry assembles a run of PVC drain pipe that terminates at a drain grate any water that's pumped out of the basement will be carried well away from the foundation and discharged through the grate where it will run away from the house inside the plastic pipe is run down to the sump where it's connected to the discharge side of the pump then the pumps are plugged in and the battery for the emergency DC pump is connected the battery will be monitored and kept fully energized by the automatic charger with the plumbing work complete and the pumps ready to go the crew begins trawling concrete around the drain concealing everything except the top the grate at the bottom of the stairwell is first covered with duct tape to keep it clean once the concrete work is finished the tape is removed so let's review what's been done a trench was cut into the basement floor plastic panels were attached to the walls and the drain was laid in place now here's how the system works any water coming through the floor enters holes near the bottom of the drain and is carried away water leaking through the walls flows downward behind the plastic panels and into the same holes in the drain the drain then discharges the water into the sump well it's time to put the system to the test now I'm simulating water coming down the stairwell instead of flowing onto the floor the water goes through the grate and into the drain its channel to the sump and the rising water turns on the pump the water is then carried to the outside where it's discharged through the grate in the winter a frozen line could render the drain useless to prevent this larry invented these failsafe bypass fittings which allow water to flow even if the drain is ice clogged downstream this looks great if it works half as it looks I'm really happy but seriously you know you hardly would even know except for the sump here that this has been put in what about maintenance unless you get a surface log up here we have an annual maintenance program where we come out once a year check out the system check out the pumps and we look for problems and find them before the problems find you so I don't have to do anything then no it shouldn't be anything you have to do there's an alarm that will sound off from from here if you have problems and if your battery backup pump operates there's an alarm here that will sound off to tell you that you're on battery power so that you know to check the primary pump to get that restored before the battery goes dead but the battery will pump out about 10,000 gallons of water before it goes dead so you've got a long time on that so Larry I've had water in this basement since I moved into the house are my leaks over well the whole idea is that you have a dry basement and run you now have a dry basement from now on I'm going to sleep like a baby knowing that this is only a bad dream and that if it is pouring rain outside any water that finds its way into my basement will be delivered right outside again you

Channel: Basement Systems, Inc.

Views: 655,813

Rating: 4.6178412 out of 5

Keywords: basement waterproofing, basement, wet basement repair, french drain, Sump Pump (Product Category), Flood (Disaster Type), Basement Flood, Basement Systems, Larry Janesky

Id: R4Lr4h2DmpM

Length: 11min 25sec (685 seconds)

Published: Mon May 12 2014