Minnesota Waterproofing

It's getting close to springtime in Minnesota and with the heavier than usual snowfall that means lot's of moisture.  This year will probably be different than last year where the ground was frozen solid and a lot of moisture was entering foundations through cracks that extended above grade level. 

This block wall foundation is a great example of several mistakes done by the owner hoping to keep water from entering his foundation and one that was a headache for the homeowner last year during the spring thaw. 

The first mistake is having the downspout end just a few inches from the ground where it is more susceptible to freezing and clogging up.  We always recommend about 18" off the ground to get the proper slope.  In addition we always recommend solid metal or plastic extensions, 10' if possible.  With a good slope and the longer length it will help get that water away from the problem areas.  This extension (the green piece) is also pointed towards the left when it should be pointed at us which would make it easier to hit the slope of the yard heading towards the right.  With this set up the water is getting dumped into the pea gravel (towards the left) but then heading to the right.  Along the route is this nice stair step crack that most likely goes from floor to ceiling in the basement

This basement has a working drain tile system but when there's rain, some of the water does work it's way into the system but the crack we see on the outside is also visible on the inside and taking the path of least resistance, it dumps out above the floor, skipping the drain tile system.

My Concrete Wall Is Leaking!

This is one of my favorite wet basement photographs, and really backs up the phrase "a photo is worth a thousand words."   The photo shows an inside foundation wall with some insulation removed.  This wet basement area was leaking a great amount of water on the floor during big rains.  The home owner was mad because they had a drain tile system but it was dry most of the time.  The photo shows a vertical wall crack and the dark area is water on the foundation and floor and what's left of a tie rod above the black corrugated channel on the floor.  With poured walls, tie rods were used to hold forms together when they poured the walls.  When the concrete sets, the forms are pulled but the contractor has no choice but to leave these tie rods in the concrete (they normally bust off the protruding tab ends).  Made of metal, these tie rods rust when exposed to water, this one is no different leaving a good size hole in the wall and possibly providing a stress point that lead to the vertical crack. 

The black corrugated channel is supposed to capture this water and drain it down to an underfloor drain tile system leading to a sump pump and sump pit.  This drain tile system has failed here and a few other places in this basement and we see this type of drain tile failure often especially when the water comes out above the floor.

Great Lakes Waterproofing uses all methods of waterproofing, they all have their strong points, but we love to do exterior waterproofing and really seal up the foundation.  In most cases, exterior hydroclay waterproofing is the least costly.  In this situation we injected all-green bentonite hydroclay along this side of the home, filling in voids and cracks.  Once set up water is not able to get through this barrier and after a year and a half of record rain fall this basement is dry again.

For customers wanted to address the crack as well, we offer Fortress Stabilization Carbon Fiber Strips.  We would use marine grade epoxy and attach carbon fiber strips to staple up the crack preventing it from future movement.
www.TCWaterproof.com 

Exterior Waterproofing on Historic Buildings

We're heading into the fall rainy season again and Great Lakes Waterproofing is leading the way with exterior waterproofing. While we work with most products and systems available, sealing the foundation from the exterior is our preferred method.  A lot of our Bentonite waterproofing projects involve older, maybe even historic, structures.  Bentonite (Hydroclay) Waterproofing works great because it fills in voids, follows the water and seals the passageways.  Once properly set up the foundation will have the time-tested proven properties of Bentonite.

Historic and older properties can be a little more difficult to address for exterior waterproofing, buildings were often built closer to sidewalks and parking lots.  If excavation were necessary the costs would go up tremendously.  Great Lakes Waterproofing addresses these issues by drilling small holes around the perimeter and pumping under the obstruction.  this building is typical of what you might find in the downtown district, construction is solid stone foundation and brick above grade with an asphalt patio area.  Water is coming in through this side so that's the area we'll do our exterior waterproofing.      

After drilling several small holes near the foundation, we pump our Bentonite sealing up this part of the wall.  In the photo is an injection wand, extending down around 8'-10', and hose that's connected to the pumping equipment.  Our industrial pumping equipment is capable of pumping long distances, this patio area was sealed off by a fence and we only had limited access, not only would excavating this area be difficult, most of it would have to be done by hand. 

The front side of this building also presented it's own challenges, even with the concrete all the way up to the foundation, this building had major water issues.  The solid stone walls were fine but over time some of the mortar joints opened up allowing free-flowing water to enter the building.  Since the water was entering above the floor and the wall was solid, the owner decided to go with exterior waterproofing.  Excavation and digging were cost prohibitive but Bentonite waterproofing seemed like the perfect product for this application.

After drilling small holes along the perimeter, Bentonite is pumped all the way down to the footings (basement floor level), this photo is neat because you can see the clay coming back up a hole that's over six feet away.  Once the Bentonite sets up, the water that used to flow in this "void" will not be able to pass through the Bentonite. 

Drain Tile & Cove Drain in Action

Wow, a picture sure is worth a million words. In this wet basement photo we have a block wall filled with water. It has the typical signs including staining of the wall at the mortar joints, cracks with staining and moisture present. The homeowner has installed both a drain tile system and a cove drain system.

The drain tile system is high-end with a nice control panel for the pump and there's probably a battery back-up for the pump install in another room in case there's a power failure. The white PVC pipe is the sump pump discharge that goes out to the yard.


There's also a cove system installed at floor level. Several holes have been drilled into the cinder block cores at the floor level to relieve any water that fills the concrete blocks. Cracks in the outside wall have allowed water to build up in the blocks and the holes should provide an exit for the water which drains into the channel that leads to a sump pump.


Great Lakes Waterproofing was called in because this area was still getting wet and not a little wet but a lot wet, in fact a hole that someone had drilled into the block had a stream of water pouring out of it. Not only was the hole drilled 33" above the floor level but the blocks were full of water at this level. (a cinder block holds approximately 1.7 gallons of water)

The upper photo is roughly 7.5' wide by 4'+ tall, there's close to 51 gallons of water in this area of block, maybe more looking at the staining on the bottom course of white block. Imagine a typical city house with a footprint of 24' x 24', one wall could have hundreds of gallons of water in the blocks.


In this situation Great Lakes Waterproofing sealed the outside of the basement wall stopping the water before it filled the blocks truly waterproofing the basement

The cove system failed because rocks and debris clogged it up the water was unable to drain into the channel. The drain tile system failed for the same reason, the cracks on the outside wall were large enough to allow rocks and debris to fill up the first course of block, once filled both systems don't have a way drain the water. What options do you have when your water management system fail?

There's Water In My Elevator Pit

Recently one of our sales engineers was faced with the task of helping waterproof an elevator pit. The basic construction of a pedestrian elevator includes a pit 10'-20' below the last floor for counterweights, wiring and a giant hydraulic safety stand. The building this three-stall elevator pit was located in was next to a large rocky limestone hill and about 200' from a river. Wall construction was poured concrete in good to excellent condition.
While the pit was set up with an exposed cove drain tile system around the wall leading to the sump pump the rest of the floor was not protected and over time water was noticed coming through some of the bolt holes drilled into the floor holding up the tracks for the elevator. In addition there were several areas around the seam at the wall and floor that water was creeping through including a larger leak the size of a pencil that water was coming out of in a steady stream.

Using our exclusive bentonite hydroclay injection system the installers at Great Lakes Waterproofing tackled the problem by drilling holes near the leaks and injecting our waterproofing blend of bentonite hydroclay. Right away the flow of water had stopped at the bolt holes. The next step was to waterproof the perimeter, not an easy task as it was flowing over a gallon of water into the sump every minute. Our waterproofing blend of bentonite hydroclay is an all natural product that stays flexible throughout it's lifespan, the self-sealing nature of the clay is perfect for this application that has many dynamic water forces at work.

Once again our waterproofers drilled holes every few feet straight down through the concrete into the sand and water. Working fast to make sure the sump pump was not overwhelmed by the water coming in through the new holes, the Great Lakes Waterproofing Team pumped bentonite waterproofing into all the holes and capped them off with hydraulic cement. for a permanent waterproofing solution.

Another elevator pit we waterproofed contained a large hydraulic lift for it's industrial elevator. Typically the shaft is buried as deep as it's height above the floor, in this case over three stories.
The old lift had started leaking hydraulic fluid and needed to be replaced. The floor around the old shaft was broken out, the new shaft installed and concrete was poured around the new shaft. Several areas of repaired concrete around the new shaft developed leaks. The elevator pit floor was next to a river and 5-10' below the surface of the water, developing a lot of hydrostatic pressure on the exterior of the elevator pit. The pit had 2-3" of water and the sump pump was running continously 24 hours a day.

Once again we drilled through the concrete floor and pumped in our waterproofing blend of bentonite hydroclay. Several areas around the pit needed attention. Once the hydroclay was installed and the pit started to dry we closed all the holes off with hydraulic cement. In addition to drying up the elevator pit, the industrial sump pump is now dormant.

Things are looking good now in these dry elevator pits, this is another example of bentonite waterproofing we can do at a fraction of the cost the other guys charge to divert the water.