Basement Waterproofing Photo Album: Fixing a Troublesome Corner with WaterGuard in St. Johns, MI

Sometimes the whole basement isn't the problem when it comes to water issues - sometimes it really is just one corner. This was the case in a St. Johns home, where a leaky corner was really ruining the owner's dart games. Also problematic? The sump pump was across the room and the water just never made it over there. Well, it was also old and overworked, but the location was the worst part. We installed our WaterGuard below-floor drain system in the troublesome corner, and used cross tile to give it a path across the room to the new Super Sump pump.

Water Entry Point in St. Johns Basement

The culprit - this questionable corner of the block wall foundation. Unsurprising, since windows are a notorious point of entry for leaky basements.

Leaking Basement Corner Makes Dart Games a Bummer

Imagine missing the board (come on, we've all done it) and your dart lands in that muck in the corner. Game over. This corner was the only area of the basement that had water issues, so it was where we installed the drainage system.

Old, Overworked Sump Pump in St. Johns Basement

What's stressful about this sump pump is that half of the problematic water wasn't even getting to it. Our customer knew that once the cross tile was built in to direct water to the pump, his existing system wasn't going to be able to keep up. He smartly upgraded to a Super Sump.

Removing Concrete for WaterGuard Installation

Mmm...mucky. Don't worry, this is a side effect of removing the floor in a leaking area of the basement, and it'll all be better - and drier - once the WaterGuard is installed and the floor restored.

Excavating the Floor for Cross Tile

It can be stressful to look at your basement floor and see all of these paths being dug out of the concrete. But it's necessary to install the drainage system safely (no tripping) and effectively (taking advantage of gravity is the most useful way to collect water). And we'll replace the floor, I promise.

WaterGuard Installation in Progress

We're most of the way done here - WaterGuard and inspection ports are laid down and the void is filled with drainage stone. Now we just need that ever-present white tape and some new concrete and the floor is better than new.

Cross Tile Drainage Installation in Progress

When we install a full perimeter of WaterGuard, it's easy to just tie it into the sump pump. But in this case, we only needed to waterproof one corner of the basement, and it was the corner opposite the sump pump. When water is pooling away from the pump system, it's helpful to install a cross tile drainage system to speed the process of diversion along.

Cross Tile Directs Water to Sump Pump

With the installation in progress, you can see the white tape covering the cross tile that connects the WaterGuard to the new Super Sump. This will allow the water to be diverted right to the pump, rather than contending with gravity.

Close Up of New Super Sump

Now that is an attractive sump pump. It's also way more reliable.

Basement Floor Restored After WaterGuard Installation

Here's the finished product, with new concrete filling in the sections we had to remove. But now the basement has the added bonus of not being a wet mess.