Basement Waterproofing - Why Previously Dry Basements Get Wet? | Ask the Expert

 

A customer from Langdon, Alberta asks owner Doug Lacey on this episode of Ask the Expert a question that puzzles many homeowners…why a previously dry basement environment can suddenly turn into a wet, leaky or flooding basement?

Doug explains that when houses are built, weeping tiles (which are lines of perforated clay, pvc, or corrugated pipe) are installed by the foundation footing to collect ground water and ideally, divert it away from the foundation walls through gravity or using a sump pump to pump it up and out of the house.

 

The problem with these regular weeping tiles is that, even when they are properly installed (and most aren’t!) they tend to clog with silt, mud and debris – or simply collapse. Doug estimates that the average life span of a weeping tile to be of no more than 9 or 10 years before it begins to malfunction. That is how water begins to collect around the foundation and eventually will find its way into the basement – usually through the weakest spot: the joint between the walls and the floor.

 

Calgary Basement Systems offers a fairly superior foundation drainage alternative: the patented, award-winning WaterGuard Interior Drainage System. The WaterGuard has been used for over 20 years to effectively and permanently intercept and collect ground water, diverting it to one of the company’s powerful sump pump systems.

The WaterGuard is installed along the internal perimeter of the basement wall and sits on top of the foundation footing, on a mud-free zone, intercepting ground water at its entrance spot and collecting any water seeping through the walls as well. The system can be fitted with service ports, and flushed as needed. That is why it carries a Transferable Lifetime Warranty. 

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5711 80 Ave SE
Calgary, AB T2C 4S6
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