Waterproofing a Waterfront Traverse City Home

Challenge

Living near the Grand Traverse Bay ensures beautiful views, breathtaking sunsets, and…an increased chance of having water issues in your basement or crawl space. Joe had water coming into his partially finished basement and called us to find the entry point and come up with a solution.

Solution

Our system design specialist Bob quickly figured out where the water was coming in and designed a full perimeter WaterGuard system. WaterGuard sits below the floor and collects incoming water, rerouting it to a sump pump to discharge it before it can affect your basement. Unlike other drainage systems, WaterGuard sits on top of the slab to prevent dirt and debris from clogging it. 

While we recommended a full perimeter, Joe only wanted to waterproof the area where the water was coming in to avoid tearing up the finished part of his basement. We of course followed the customer’s wishes and installed WaterGuard in part of the basement as well as a TripleSafe sump pump.

But, as we suspected, the water found a way. Our customers called again the following year with obvious water issues in the rest of the basement; the area with the WaterGuard installed was staying dry because the system was working as it should, but the entry point expanded to the unprotected area.

Water intrusion is always a risk when you live near a body of water because the water table is already high - this means that the soil has less capacity to hold more water, so when it rains there isn’t anywhere for the water to go. Water will always search for a lower pressure area, even if that means moving through concrete.

To solve the new problem, we expanded the WaterGuard system to cover the entire perimeter of the basement. In the process we also discovered a wall in the unprotected area that was bowing and required immediate stabilization, so we installed CarbonArmor straps to secure it and prevent further movement. While it would’ve been more convenient and less of a headache for the customer to solve the entire problem at once, we can almost always expand installed systems and add new products down the line to ensure you get exactly what you need and want.

Living near the water is great, but it comes with some problems. Water issues in a basement or crawl space are one of the biggest problems, but with the right protection, your home will be safe from anything the lake throws at it.