Questions homeowners ask us
Straight answers to the questions we hear on most first visits. If yours is not here, ask it on the contact form and we will answer it directly.
What decides the price of basement waterproofing?
Four things, in this order: how much of the wall is wet (a single crack is a small job; a whole wall is a drainage job), whether the fix is inside or outside (outside means excavation, so access for a machine matters), what is in the way (decks, walkways, a finished basement, utilities close to the wall) and what the ground is (moraine sand digs fast, clay does not). We measure all four at the assessment and give you a written price before anything is booked.
Interior or exterior: which one do I need?
Exterior waterproofing stops water before it touches the wall, so it is the answer when the wall itself must stay dry: a finished basement you want to keep, block walls that are deteriorating, or a wall that leaks along its whole length. Interior drainage collects water once it reaches the wall and pumps it out, so it suits houses where the yard cannot be dug, where the water comes up through the floor, or where the budget has to stay lower. Many houses get both: a crack injected from inside and grading fixed outside.
Why does my basement only leak in spring?
Because that is when the ground around your house holds the most water: the snowpack melts over a few weeks, the frost is still in the top layer so the water cannot soak away, and spring rain lands on top of it. On the moraine that water usually drains once the frost is out; on the lakeshore flats and in clay pockets it sits against the wall for weeks. A basement that leaks only in April has a drainage problem, not a rain problem.
Is a crack in my poured concrete wall serious?
Most vertical and diagonal cracks in a poured wall are shrinkage cracks from when the concrete cured. They are not structural, but they are the most common leak path in a house built after about 1970. Injected with polyurethane they stay sealed. A horizontal crack, a crack that is wider at one end, or a wall that bows inward is a different matter and needs an engineer before anyone waterproofs it.
How often does a sump pump need replacing?
Manufacturers rate residential pumps at roughly seven to ten years of normal use, but on a wet lot a pump can cycle thousands of times a season and wear out sooner. Lift the lid twice a year and pour a bucket of water in: the float should rise, the pump should run and the pit should empty. If it hums without pumping, cycles constantly or has never run in your ownership, it is due.
What happens to the sump pump when the power goes out?
It stops, and in a storm that is exactly when the pit fills fastest. A battery backup pump sits in the same pit on its own float and takes over automatically; a good one runs for several hours of steady pumping. For a house on a well and septic that already loses water in an outage, we treat the backup as part of the pump installation, not an extra.
How long does the work take?
Crack injection: a few hours. An interior drainage system on one or two walls: two to four days, including the new concrete. An exterior excavation of one wall: three to five working days depending on depth, access and weather. We tell you the schedule in the written scope and we do not open a wall we cannot close before the next rain.
We are on a well and septic. Does that change anything?
Yes, two things. Before any excavation we locate the septic bed and lines, the well casing and its water line, so the machine never goes near them. And the discharge from a sump has to go somewhere that is not the septic bed and not back at the well head, which on a small lot takes some thought. Many houses in the township are on private services, so this is routine for us, but it has to be planned, not discovered.
Can I finish the basement afterwards?
After an interior system, yes: the membrane sits behind the framing and the drain is under the slab, so the finished wall is built as normal with an air gap at the bottom. After an exterior job the inside is untouched and you can finish immediately. What we ask is that you wait through one spring first if the basement has a history of standing water, so that the repair has been tested by the wettest weeks of the year.
Do you offer a warranty?
Warranty terms are set out in the written scope for each job, because they depend on the method: an injected crack, a drainage system and an exterior membrane are different repairs with different lifespans. Ask for the terms at the assessment and read them before you sign; we would rather explain them in your basement than in an email afterwards.
We are buying a house in Oro-Medonte. Can you look at the basement before we close?
Yes. A pre-purchase look covers the wall surfaces, the floor and cove joint, the sump (if there is one), the window wells and the grade outside, with photos and a plain-language note on what is cosmetic and what would need work. It is most useful on older houses in Shanty Bay, Hawkestone and Oro Station, and on any lakeshore lot.
There is water in my basement right now. What should I do first?
Turn off power to the affected area at the panel if water is near outlets or the furnace. Move what you can. Do not pump a flooded basement dry while the ground outside is saturated: the water is also holding the floor down, and on a lakeshore lot a slab can heave. Call the 24/7 line at (705) 881-8843; we will tell you what to do tonight and come out to find the entry point.
Our house has a concrete block foundation. Is that a problem?
Block walls are hollow, so water that gets past the outer face fills the cores and comes out at the bottom course, often along a whole wall rather than at one spot. Injection does not work on block. The repair is either exterior waterproofing of the wall face or an interior system with a membrane that drains the cores at the base. Older houses in the village cores of the township are mostly block; newer subdivisions are poured.