Repairing Leaking Basement Walls

What Works (And What Doesn't) For Leaking Basement Walls

Basement walls leak when water builds up in the soil outside your foundation. This water presses against your walls, leaking in through anywhere it can.

If your basement walls are leaking, your local Basement Systems Contractor can help! We have warrantied, effective solutions for your basement that will permanently address your problem. If you live in Canada or the United States, we have a dealer near you!

Leaking basement walls can greatly limit the usefulness of your below-grade space. Leaking walls tend to be ugly surfaces, stained by water, mold, and white, powdery efflorescence.

As walls continue to leak, they also compromise your options for basement finishing, by adding moisture to the space that could be damaging to drywall, carpeting, wood studs, and other organic materials.

That moisture encourages the growth of mold, mildew, and rot on your building materials. And where the walls are not covered, humidity is instead added to the basement air, creating a musty, humid space.

It costs you nothing to meet with one of our waterproofing specialists for a free, on-site consultation, inspection, and written price estimate.

To schedule your free foundation wall repair estimate, contact us today!

Where Do Basement Walls Leak?

Basement walls can leak from multiple locations, including through cracks, around pipe penetrations in the walls, or through basement windows. Water can also seep through the concrete itself, seeping into your basement or entering as moisture.

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Crack & Pipe Leaks

Leaking Windows

Moisture seeping through a basement wall

Seeping Moisture

Four Solutions To Fix Leaking Walls

As is the case with most home improvements, some methods are much better than others. We've spent more than 20 years carefully researching which methods will work best for us, and which methods will ultimately fail.

At Basement Systems, we only recommend some of the options available. We believe in choosing permanent solutions to wet basement problems that do not disrupt your home when being installed. Our systems can be serviced should a problem arise, and include a written transferable warranty.

Basement wall waterproofing techniques can be broken down into these four major categories:

Waterproof Paint

Waterproof paints and coatings are easy-to-apply products that can be found in nearly any hardware store. They're meant to coat the walls, creating a vapor barrier that will hold back moisture that would otherwise seep through the porous concrete.

This works for a few months, or maybe a couple years, before breaking down. Once it does, the waterproof paint will begin to bubble, peel, and flake off the basement walls. These coatings can also grow mold and mildew.

Once the coatings have been applied, there is no easy or effective way to remove them from the concrete.

More about Waterproof Paint

Dampproofing From The Exterior

Instead of coating the basement walls from the inside, some contractors will instead coat the basement walls from the outside. They will do this with either a dampproofing, or a waterproof coating.

Dampproofing is not intended to stop all moisture from entering your basement. These coatings are not designed to last forever, and they cannot bridge all wall cracks.

Installing these coatings means that you'll need to access the outside walls of your foundation -- so the entire perimeter of your home will need to be excavated. This is an expensive, invasive job that costs about twice as much as interior waterproofing pump systems. As the perimeter is dug out, any gardens, patios, walkways, steps, or other landscaping will need to be removed.

More about Exterior Dampproofing

Seal The Wall Crack

When properly done, sealing leaking wall cracks is a permanent, effective solution. The trick to this is to find a solution that will not peel off the wall or fail as the wall naturally expands and shrinks over time.

We offer the following three solutions for leaking walls and crack repair:

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Like our other waterproofing solutions, these solutions include a written performance warranty.

More about Crack Repair

Waterproof Wall Panels

Instead of covering the basement wall with a waterproof paint or coating, we recommend mechanically attaching basement wall panels. These wall panels will do double duty, keeping out moisture while upgrading the space. We offer six different specialized wall products:

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Many Basement Systems contractors also offer finished basement systems, once your basement is dry.

More about Waterproof Wall Panels

When water vapor passes through the porous concrete of your walls, it brings traces of minerals with it.

As the water vapor evaporates into your basement air, these minerals are left behind. Over time, they form into the white, powdery mineral salt known as efflorescence.

Will Mold Grow Behind The Walls?

Mold will not grow behind the walls unless they are painted with latex-based paint, which contains organic materials derived from rubber trees. Mold can also grow on basement walls that are extremely dirty.

In both cases, the mold is not growing on the concrete, nor is it growing on our basement walls. To keep mold from places from places we can't keep dry, we need to use inorganic materials such as plastic, glass, concrete, and metal.

If you install drywall with wood studs, you trap moisture behind the walls, where it will build up against the paper drywall covering and wood to grow mold. No drywall -- even the new mold-resistant varieties -- has a long-term warranty against mold damage.

Our basement wall products are designed with materials that are inorganic and will not support the growth of mold, rot, or mildew. When mold grows behind drywall, you may not be able to see it, even as it affects your health.

More about Drywall Damage.

Do You Have A Foundation Issue?

Many cracks on basement walls are harmless curing cracks that pose no threat to your foundation. However, if you do have a foundation issue, you'll want to know about it and address it right away.

If the sides of your cracks are uneven, or if they're thicker than a dime, you could have a much more serious issue on your hands than a leaky crack. Many Basement Systems dealers also repair foundations, and will be able to help you identify if there is a more serious issue at hand.

More about Identifying A Foundation Issue

Schedule Your FREE Basement Waterproofing Estimate!

Each Basement Systems dealer offers free, no-obligation estimates to homeowners within their service area. These estimates include an on-site personal inspection from one of our experts, a written cost estimate, and a complimentary copy of our full-color waterproofing book.

Our network of locally owned and operated dealers are located throughout Canada and the United States. To schedule your free basement waterproofing estimate, call or e-mail us today!