Injection Sealing Not All It's Cracked Up To Be

Many consumers who find water on their basement floors start out by searching for visible cracks through which this water came. By the time a basement waterproofing professional arrives at the house, the homeowner has identified at least one or two cracks that he or she wants to seal up. This desire makes sense on an intuitive level: the water is coming from somewhere and it seems likely that the water is coming in through a crack. It may appear as through the best option is to fill these cracks in order to keep the water out but this can often cause more problems than it solves.

The water in a basement is probably coming from one of two sources: it is either (1) rain water that has percolated through the soil outside of the home and is now sitting against the foundation wall, building up pressure or (2) the water table (or an artificially high perched water table) that is exerting pressure on the basement floor and the base of the foundation wall. Either way, the water has to go somewhere. This water is constantly seeking an area of lower pressure and by entering the basement, the water is relieving pressure.

So let's say the homeowner identifies a crack that he thinks the water is coming in through. If he seals up one crack, the water will find a new way of relieving this pressure. More often than not, this means the water will find a different way to enter the basement. This means he'll end up with a new leak in a place that never even had a leak before. And this assumes that he correctly identified the source of the leak in the first place. For all he knows, this crack may be entirely benign and the water is actually come up through the footing joint or some other common source of basement water.

So how do you avoid this?

The easiest, most effective, efficient and affordable way is to simply have someone install a French drain. A French drain consists of a perforated pipe that is buried next to the foundation footing beneath the basement floor around the interior perimeter of the basement. Surrounding this pipe is a layer of gravel that provides an additional drainage capacity and a stable base of support so that the area can be recemented. Between the fresh cement and the existing foundation wall, a small gap is left open so that water leaking in through the foundation walls can enter the system.

The primary strength of a French drain is that it can handle water no matter where it comes from. Water entering through the walls will drip into the drain channel, water coming in through the footing joint will go directly into the system; even groundwater that would otherwise come up through the basement floor will be drawn toward the low-pressure zone created by the French drain.

If a basement waterproofing contractor is trying to sell you a crack injection, he may be simply trying to make some quick money for doing relatively little work. It isn't a guaranteed solution and it may even make matters worse. A French drain, on the other hand, is virtually fool-proof. Insist on having one installed.