Trustworthy Basement Waterproofing & Foundation Crack Repair in Grand Ledge, MI

When Tom's house started smelling musty upstairs, he realized he must have a water or mold issue. He wasn't sure how to remedy the situation or identify the cause, so he researched his options and called Ayers for help. Our crew of experts stopped by his home and recommended installing the CleanSpace vapor barrier. CleanSpace is an antimicrobial liner applied entirely to basement floors and walls to eliminate moisture and prevent mold growth. Unwanted smells caused by water and mold can waft through the vents in your house. Tom is relieved to breathe fresh air once again!

Cathy noticed cracking in her basement that made the area unsightly. Wanting the area to be clean and safe to enjoy, she contacted Ayers. Our resident foreman Blade was able to listen to Cathy's concerns and inspect the area.

After his inspection, he noticed that the supportive structure of the home was not strong enough to handle the weight of the entire home. To solve this issue Blade and his team installed a set of SmartJack piers to re-stabilize the home.

SmartJack piers are metal beams placed strategically along the structure's supportive rim joist. The bottoms are anchored into the ground with poured concrete while the tops are capped with load-bearing joints that are attached to the rim joist. The entire pier's height is adjusted till there is constant pressure being applied, reintroducing support to the entire framework.

Denise called Ayers hoping to do something about her obvious shifting foundation. Her basement walls were lined with cracks and the doors did not fit in their frames. Our foreman Bruce did not take long to find the most problematic areas and also found mold on the wooden rim joist. Bruce drafted a list of treatments for the area and gave Denise a comprehensive plan to restabilize her home.

Bruce and his team treated the basement with SilverGlo and SmartJack piers while equipping the basement with a TripleSafe pump and lining the crawl space with a CleanSpace surface protector. 

SilverGlo is inorganic and waterproof. The foamed polystyrene is injected to insulate the area. SmartJacks are steel beams that are placed strategically under the crawlspace support and anchored into the ground with poured concrete. The top is fixed with a load-bearing joint and tightened till the pressure creates constant support. To handle the water flow our team placed a TripleSafe sump pump that has two extra failsafes to ensure the system never gets overworked. The failsafes include a reserve motor and backup batteries that activate once the main motor fails. To finish Bruce and his team installed a CleanSpace lining. CleanSpace is an antimicrobial barrier that keeps moisture and the bacteria it carries from eating at the wooden support. Wood and other inorganic materials provide food that causes mold spores that put the home and its residents' health at risk. 

Nancy had an unsightly crawl space that had lots of moisture and effloresence on the concrete walls.  Effloresence is the white powder you see on concrete, which is a clear sign that water has began to wash some of the minerals and salt out of the concrete. This is not healthy to have in your home because the moisture is a homebase for mold and could eventually compromise the whole home if the damage advanced.

Our team fixed the unsightly crawl space by insulating it with SilverGlo wall and rim joist insulation to keep moisture out and heat inside. The SilverGlo wall helps by keeping heat inside and moisture outside and it also makes your crawl space look like more than just some scary hole.  

This home in needed a lot of work but we were able to complete the job and make it seem almost brand new again. There was both a crawl space and basement that needed our help and a sinking/cracked garage floor. 

We were able to encapsulate the crawl space with CleanSpace, drainage matting, and SilverGlo insulation. All three of these work together to make your crawl space dry and easier to heat/cool so you can save on utilities. The basement needed SmartJacks to stabilize the sagging floors above and push piers to stabilize the entire foundation. We also installed new wall panels to give the basement a beautful finished look. The panels are waterproof and organic so no worrying about mold growth or them getting ruined if your basement were to ever flood. To prevent flooding though we also put in our perimeter WaterGuard system to direct any and all water to the sump pump. 

This home needed many of our services and we were able to get everthing done. The home is now stabilized, waterproofed and safe for many years to come. 

Mike was experiencing water coming into his basement through his basement walls. His home was built in 1988 with poured concrete. He also began finishing his basement. He did not want the water coming in to ruin it. Our team of experts decided to seal the walls using FlexiSpan. FlexiSpan seals the cracks and has a secondary built in strategy, just in case the first one fails. It’s flexible material is made to move with your wall as it continues to move over time to keep your wall from ever leaking again.

This homeowner called with two main problems he wanted fixed. The first problem was that he had drain tile installed in that past that was ineffective. The second problem was that the foundation wall in his basement was beginning to bow.

To take care of the ineffective drain tile, we installed the WaterGuard system. To begin, we removed portions of the flooring at the base of each wall in the basement in order to place a perimeter drainage system. After the pipes were placed in the flooring, the excess space was filled with crushed stone and cement was placed over top. A small part of the system up against the wall was left uncovered so water entering the home through the wall could filter into the pipes and exit into the sump pump.

Next we installed Geo-Lock Wall Anchors to address the failing foundation wall. This system works by embedding steel earth anchors into stable soil outside of the home and connecting them to the bowing wall with a sturdy wall anchor. The anchors were secured with steel rods and the system was tightened into place, which immediately stabilized and held the wall in place. The owner can even have the anchors tightened over time as the soil shrinks in order to fully pull the wall back to its original position. 

This home had a block foundation wall that was in need of help. The wall had a large horizontal crack located at the top near the ceiling and it was beginning to bow inward.

In order to stabilize the wall and prevent it from shifting and cracking even further, we installed the CarbonArmor system. CarbonArmor uses specialized fiber reinforced polymers that are 10 times stronger than steel, which makes this system a viable solution for this home. 

The walls were first coated with a strong epoxy resin, which we used to adhere the carbon straps to. After the straps were attached to the wall, the system was secured into place with steel brackets. The system will ensure the wall is immediately stabilized and will continue to shift the wall back to its original position over time. 

These homeowners had a home built in 1990 with poured concrete walls that were allowing a great deal of water to enter the home during big storms. The water was making its way in through a crack in the foundation wall and even though the basement had a sump pump, water accumulation was still an issue. 

In order to collect water that was entering the basement to then empty into the sump pump, we installed the WaterGuard perimeter drainage system. Pipes were placed underneath the flooring slightly away from the wall to ensure any water seepage had room to empty into the pipes and they were placed on top of the footing to prevent the system from getting clogged with dirt. Small sections of the flooring around the interior of the basement were excavated in order to place the piping, but the floors were restored with cement fill. A small section of the system was left uncovered so water could filter into the pipes and then exit into the sump pump. Because the system was installed under the flooring, we also installed an inspection port that gives us easy access to the system is we ever needed it.

The next step in this project was to repair the crack in the wall that was allowing water to enter the home. For this we used NexusPro joint sealer, which seals the crack off and prevents it from shifting any further over time. 

The BrigthWall wall paneling was installed directly over the cracked wall to further address the water intrusion. The paneling is waterproof and serves as vapor barrier to prevent moisture from entering through the concrete walls. This system works great with WaterGuard because it directs water leaks behind the wall directly down to the system to then be removed from the home.

Mindy R. had mold and a musty smell in her home for a while prior to us visiting. The home had a Michigan basement with a partial dirt floor and cement slab along with a crawl space. She had the ducts sealed to see if it would help with the smell, but it did not. She also purchased a dehumidifier to use in the basement, but the problem continued to persist. 

Moisture, humidity and mold occupied the crawl space and then made its way up into other areas of the home, bringing the unwanted musty smell with it. To deal with any type of moisture that was entering through the crawl space walls or floors, we installed the CleanSpace liner. We first cut the liner to fit the dimensions of the crawl space and then covered it completely, making sure to fasten it securely to the walls. The liner is water and vapor proof and is made of a durable plastic that is resistant to damage and has an anti-microbial additive to prevent mold growth. Underneath the liner, we laid down dimpled drainage matting that helps water flow underneath the liner and exit the crawl space.

This Grand Ledge homeowner was in the process of cleaning out his crawl space and wanted to get the exposed earth and stone walls sealed off from the outside environment. 

The dirt ground and stone walls allowed moisture to enter the space, which created high humidity levels that could lead to rot and mold growth in the future. Not to mention, air from the crawl space rises and could cause various problems in other areas of the home. To seal the space off and create a clean atmosphere for the homeowner, we installed the CleanSpace liner. The waterproof and vapor proof liner was cut to fit the crawl space walls and floors like a glove and was securely fastened to the walls. The liner is extremely durable to prevent damage over time and should last as long as the home. 

To remove the high humidity levels we installed the SaniDry CX dehumidification system. This effective dehumidifier wrings the air dry and then distributes dry, filtered air throughout the space. The water collected through the SaniDry system drains directly into the sump pump so the homeowner never has to empty a heavy bucket of water.

The crawl space did have a sump pump, but we decided to replace the previous liner with a SmartDrain liner. This liner collects water from the ground and from the WaterGuard system to make sure the crawl space is fully protected. An airtight lid was also included to prevent dirt and debris from entering and to stop water in the sump from evaporating into the space. 

This homeowner had water seeping into the basement between the blocks in the block wall foundation. She had a partial system installed by another company, although the two sump pumps were running every 20 seconds year round, and water was still occupying the basement. 

The first thing we needed to do was fill the old crocks with concrete and install a TripleSafe sump pump in the proper location. TripleSafe is an effective sump pump system that has three pumps in one liner to fully protect the home from water intrusion. The first pump in the system is placed lowest in the liner and will do most of the work and the second pump is higher in the liner and kicks on if the first pump cannot keep up. The final pump is battery powered, so this homeowner will be safe from incoming water even if the power goes out. 

Next we installed the WaterGuard system to collect water seeping in through the wall and then direct it to the sump pump. The flooring around the perimeter of the basement walls was excavated to place the WaterGuard piping. The remaining space was filled with crushed stone and system was covered with concrete so its like we were never even there. Part of the system closest to the wall was left uncovered so water coming in trough the wall can empty into the system instead of on the floor. 

Lastly, we needed to ensure water has the proper escape route. IceGuard was installed on the home’s discharge line where the line meets the home. The system has custom holes that guide water outside even if the pipes are frozen. If the pipes freeze, water from the sump will re-enter the home and cause a flood, which is why IceGuard is perfect for cold winter months. The LawnScape outlet was installed underneath the ground outside of the home and was used to lead water away from the property. 

The customer called with water coming in at the wall/floor meeting point around the entire perimeter of the basement. Adding a wrinkle to the problem was the thickness of the concrete slab floor, which he was concerned would affect our ability to install a drainage system. But he thought wrong!

We were able to remove the necessary portion of the concrete slab in order to install a full perimeter of WaterGuard below-floor drain, as well a TripleSafe sump pump to help the existing pump remove the influx of water. A Lawnscape outlet and IceGuard on the discharge line finished off the system, which will keep the basement dry.

Even if you think your basement has special circumstances or challenges that will prevent waterproofing, call us. Our system design specialists are trained to come up with a solution no matter the circumstances.