Our basement leaks in places during torrential rains

September 5, 2012 4:51 AM

Richmond Hill/GTA Ontario filter: I'm looking for one of those companies that fixes leaky basements.

Two places in our basement get about an inch of water in them during torrential rains like we had yesterday. It may be an eavestrough problem or worse. Can anyone recommend a reputable company that can diagnose and fix. Thanks.

posted by feelinggood to Home & Garden (3 answers total)

I suggest you have a general contractor look at the situation before calling a basement waterproofing company. My experience with the latter suggests that they aren't inclined to do careful diagnosis. Their business is set up to excavate, coat the foundation, lay perforated pipes, install sump crocks and pumps, and backfill, and that's pretty much all they do. Any evidence that suggests such very expensive work is unnecessary will rob them of a sale, so they are disinclined to notice it.

When I had a water problem during heavy rains in the basement of my last house, I had three different basement waterproofing companies come by to diagnose and quote a fix. All three wanted to do major excavation, at a minimum of $7,000 for a very small house. None of them correctly diagnosed the problem, which was a clog in an existing footer drain that could be inexpensively cleared.
posted by jon1270 at 5:12 AM on September 5, 2012

I attached a pipe to my eavestrough drainspout - leading 3 or so feet away from the house. That ended up fixing the problem for me. If you haven't tried that yet, you should.
posted by backwards guitar at 5:12 AM on September 5, 2012

I agree with jon1270. If you are a basement waterproofing company, every problem can be solved by a $25,000 waterproofing. I had a leak issue that was caused by insufficient drainage in my exterior stairwell. A GC solved it by jackhammeriing out the landing floor and installing a sump pump. Guess what the waterproofing contractor recommended?
posted by COD at 5:25 AM on September 5, 2012