Attentive Concrete Leveling & Basement Waterproofing in Pentwater, MI

Ethan was concerned when his first-level floors began to slop so he contacted Ayers Basement for an inspection. Upon arrival, our foreman Evan was able to diagnose the issue, telling Ethan that his foundation has begun to settle.

Evan prescribed a set of SmartJack piers that would reinforce the Supportworks. The ground surrounding the foundation became unfirm due to the amount of water collecting around the base of the home. To correct the wall he installed a GeoLock anchor to correct the wall and for the water-based issue Evan installed a TripleSafe sump pump, with three levels of protection against floods, to help control the amount of water around the home. Finally, he fitted the home with an IceGuard modification to ensure the pipes flow regularly, year-round.

Mark N. of Pentwater, MI had standing water in his crawl space for years. The crawl space's dampness was seeping up into the house creating a musty odor. Thus, Mark gave us a call for a professional and long-lasting waterproofing solution.

We installed three of our best crawl space products for this job: the SmartSump crawl space sump pump, the SaniDry CX crawl space dehumidifier, and the CleanSpace crawl space encapsulation system. 

The SmartSump is the perfect size for a crawl space and is sure to keep the crawl space free of standing water. The SaniDry CX dehumidifier is small but beastly. It is self-draining and can collect up to 109 pints of water per day before its collection tray needs to be emptied. Lastly, the CleanSpace encapsulation system is a 20mm thick plastic lining that completely seals off the crawl space from the surrounding elements.

This trio is unstoppable when it comes to waterproofing a crawl space. You're welcome, Mark.

This beautiful home in Pentwater, MI boasted an outdoor fireplace and hot tub—all located on a huge back deck nestled in the woods. However, a deck like this is only nice if you aren’t considered about its stability...

Over the years, the homeowners had noticed the deck pulling away from the house, and the drywall on the outside walls of the house was starting to crack around the windows. These obvious signs of foundation settlement are red flags that should be addressed to make sure your home is stable.

Ayers visited the home with our team of foundation experts to install a series of helical piers. These piers are driven into the soil deep beneath the foundation, and then strong foundation brackets are positioned under the footing. This distributes the weight of the home to deep, adept soils. The home is lifted to its original position and then soil is replaced around the foundation, which means installation causes minimal disturbance for such a significant problem.

Helical piers will help stabilize the deck, and return this home to a level position. Though the job was completed in just a few days, these piers will solve this home’s foundation problems for good!  

Sue and Charles recently discovered large cracks in their home’s foundation and weren’t sure what to make of them. They got another clue to the house’s problem when they noticed that that the floors seemed to be a little uneven. It wasn’t all bad, though. The new addition they built a few years back wasn’t facing any issues, and the uneven floors were sloping that way. When our system design specialist went to visit Sue and Charles in Pentwater, MI, he saw the situation for himself and was able to put the pieces together. The 100-year-old stone and mortar foundation had forced the soil below downwards and the foundation was settling as a result.

Once our system design specialist identified Sue and Charles’ problem, the only thing left to determine was which product to use for the repair. Piering can be done to raise just about any foundation, but we typically save it for projects like these, where the home's structure is also dependent on the soil below. The benefit to a foundation piering system is that it treats the actual source of the problem. Many will try to replace the foundation and let the home rest on the same soil that failed before. Instead, piering will transfer the weight of the foundation to the plates of the piers which rest in much deeper, stable soil. The first step in piering is excavating the soil around the settling foundation.  Once the crew had access to Charles and Sue’s foundation, they placed 4 different piers on the sinking side of the home to help level the structure out. To complete the installation, the crew backfilled the excavated soil and stabilized the piers.

Hopefully with a permanent fix to their foundation problems, Charles and Sue’s home last another 100 years!