Photo Album: Refinishing a Flooded Basement in East Lansing, MI

Our customer's once-finished basement had flooded, leaving behind a mess and apprehension. After experiencing flooding, many people are reticent to finish the basement again, when the time and cost could end up wasted in the event of another flood. But if you take care of the basement's water problems - and have them repaired properly - you can rest easy knowing that the flooding won't happen again, and you're safe to use the basement however you'd like.

Concrete Floor in Formerly Finished Basement

After the initial flooding, the homeowner had to remove flooring and even some wall paneling.

Flood-Damaged Baseboard

The baseboard was damaged beyond repair, so there's just been a bare space while the homeowner decided what they were going to do. That's ok, because we would've needed to remove it to install the WaterGuard anyway!

Remnants of Water Damage on Floor

You can see what's left of the signs that there was a flood in the basement in the water stairs emanating from the wall and closet.

Flood-Damaged Wall Panels Removed

The parts of the wall most damaged by the flooding were already removed.

Flood-Damaged Bathroom Requires Some Detail Work

In addition to installing WaterGuard, the bathroom will give us a little extra challenge as we install flooring in the tight space between the toilet and wall.

Water Damage Around Doorway

It's clear that a lot of the water influx was centered here, given the degree of damage.

Protecting the Basement Before Work Begins

We know that your home is important to you, so it's important to us. Before any work begins, we cover

Stairwell Preparation

The stairs are outfitted with carpet pad before installing new carpet.

WaterGuard Trench Before Installation

In order to install the WaterGuard below-floor drain system, we drill out a perimeter of the existing floor and fill it with drainage stone to help the water move. Then the track (on the left) is placed and secured.

Last Step of WaterGuard Installation

The WaterGuard is now secured below the floor and ready for floor restoration.

WaterGuard Inspection Port

In the event that the WaterGuard system needs to be serviced at any point, "inspection ports" are installed at points along the track for easy access.

New Concrete Floor Poured Over WaterGuard

Once the WaterGuard is installed and secure, we can replace the floor we had to remove for installation. There's no sign your floor was ever gone!

New Sump Pump Will Aid in Water Removal

The new WaterGuard system is tied into a SuperSump, which will pump the water through new discharge lines to the outside.

Discharge Line Helps Remove Water

With a discharge line installed nicely out of sight, any water that enters the basement will be shuttled to the SuperSump and pumped back out through the discharge line, which extends far enough away from the home to avoid it just returning to the scene of the crime.

Everlast Wall Panels Replace Flood-Damaged Walls

We replaced the water-damaged sections of the walls with Everlast wall panels. These panels are made of inorganic material, which means they're water-resistant AND mold can't snack on them in order to grow.