Basement waterproofing questions, answered

It depends on four things, and none can be assessed over the phone: how many feet of wall need treating, how deep the footing is, whether a machine can reach the wall, and what has to be put back afterwards. A single crack injection and three sides of exterior excavation are both "basement waterproofing" and they are not remotely the same number.

Neither is better in general; they solve different problems. Exterior work keeps water out of the wall itself. Interior drainage manages water once it reaches the wall, runs year-round, and does not touch your yard. See the side-by-side comparison.

Because spring is when the ground here is tested hardest. A deep Georgian Bay snowpack melts into soil that is still frozen below the surface, so the water cannot drain downward. It travels sideways along the frost line, collects in the backfill next to your foundation and stands against the wall for days.

Most fine vertical cracks in a poured wall are shrinkage cracks: they leak, and they are not a structural problem. The ones that need an engineer are horizontal cracks, cracks where the two faces have moved out of plane, and any crack measurably wider than it was last year. How to read a crack.

Interior drainage, crack injection and sump work run all year — they happen inside a heated house. Exterior excavation depends on frost depth and site access; between roughly December and March we will usually recommend waiting.

Drainage repairs and waterproofing to an existing foundation generally do not need a building permit, but work that touches structure, underpins a footing or changes the building does. Requirements are set by the municipality — Collingwood, Wasaga Beach, The Blue Mountains or Clearview — and we will tell you plainly if what you are asking for crosses that line.

It removes the reason mould keeps coming back, which is a surface that stays damp — usually with interior drainage or exterior waterproofing. It does not clean up what is already there. Where growth is extensive, or inside finished walls and insulation, remediation is separate work and we will say so.

Crack injection is usually a few hours. A sump pit and pump is typically a day. Interior drainage along one or two walls generally runs several days including the re-pour. Exterior excavation depends on length, depth, access and weather.

Terms are set out in the written scope before you agree to anything, so you can read them next to the price rather than after the invoice. Ask us to walk through them at the assessment — and ask anyone else quoting the same job to do the same.

Yes, and none of it involves hiring us. Extend the downspouts well clear of the wall, check that the ground still falls away on every side, keep snow piles off the foundation line, and test the sump pump with a bucket of water before the melt rather than during it.