Basement Waterproofing Photo Album: Waterproofing a Stone Walled Basement in Lowell, MI

Our customer called with a stone wall basement that had multiple points of water entry. They had plans to finish the basement in the future, but knew that waterproofing is an important first step before you can even think of finishing. We installed WaterGuard below-floor drain system to direct the water to a new Super Sump pump, and encapsulated the leaking walls with CleanSpace to protect the basement from the effects of ambient moisture. We also used FrothPak spray insulation to seal up gaps in the stone walls.

Gaps Between Wall and Ductwork Cause Problems

The basement had gaps between the stone walls and various installations, like pipes and ductwork. This leads to heat loss, which affects the house upstairs.

Water Damage Around Stairway

The area around and behind a stairway - often referred to as the cove - is a major point of water problems in many homes. Here, you can see water-damaged stairs.

Problematic Crawl Space Adds to Problem

There was a small crawl space off of the basement that did nothing other than house some pipes and add to the humidity and water in the basement. As you'll see later in this gallery, we used CleanSpace to protect the basement from the crawl space.

Deteriorating Wall Leaks Water and Air

This wall had multiple water entry points and, as you can see from the gap around the pipes, was a major insulation leech.

Water Damage Causes Crumbling Stone Wall

Constant water streaming in degrades both the stones that make up the stone wall, and the mortar connecting them. This is especially dangerous with stone walls (vs poured) because you can't really repair them if they start falling apart.

Water Damaged Stone Wall

The discoloration and crumbling in the wall are sure signs of water damage.

Preparing Yard for Discharge Line

This parade of buckets has a purpose - they're holding the excavated soil dug up in order to bury the discharge line in the yard. Once it's in, we'll replace the dirt and the salvageable sod.

Buried Discharge Line is Almost Undetectable

Immediately after replacing the sod, the discharge line is already almost invisible. The only signs are the lines around the perimeter of the replaced sod (which will go away as the grass grows) and the unobtrusive LawnScape outlet, which allows the water to discharge without disrupting the landscaping.

Discharge Line Removes Water Efficiently

By discharging the water far out into the yard and working with the grade of the lawn to ensure it doesn't just angle back toward the house, we can stop the removed water from flooding right back in.

Super Sump Pump Actively Removes Water

Here's an artistic shot from the stairway to the basement, where the WaterGuard is being tied into the new Super Sump pump. By tying it in, the water is directed to the pump for removal.

Close Up of Super Sump

Here's a less artistic shot of the Super Sump. You can see the discharge line coming from the pump - that will go all the way outside, under the lawn until the point of discharge where the water can be shuttled away from the house.

Removing the Floor for WaterGuard

The thing about a below-floor drain system is that we need to get...below the floor...to access it. We do that by removing a perimeter of the concrete, which we will repour after the system is installed.

IceGuard Prevents Cold Weather Backups

Discharge lines can freeze in the winter, and when that happens the water can back up into the basement, which is the opposite of what we want to happen. IceGuard solves that by giving the water an escape route.