Burnsville Minnesota Wet Basement and Foundation Waterproofing
Beautiful Burnsville is known for hilly ground conditions allowing for a lot of ground water flow, most of the time moving towards the Minnesota River or a local lake or the many marsh land areas that flood during heavy rain season. Over time this constant water movement will erode the sand and dirt around the basement foundation. Settling and cracking will allow water into the foundation if the water is not directed away.
If you have a wet basement or foundation walk around the building and look for cracks similar to the photos below, these will go from the floor to the ceiling and can allow for a lot of water to flow through, especially when they're located near a downspout.
Homes around Burnsville usually newer and had drain tile systems installed when the home was built but they over time, they get clogged up with sand,dirt or even ochre. If the point of water entry is above the floor the water runs straight through, it's the path of least resistance.
Burnsville Townhouse with a Very Wet Basement
Unfortunately Great Lakes Waterproofing sees a lot of these issues south of the St. Paul/Minneapolis Metro Area. A lot of townhouses were built on very soggy ground. Over time basement foundations sag a fraction of an inch, just enough to develop small cracks and allow a lot of water to flow into the wet basements.
This Burnsville MN Townhouse is a common design with five units built next to each other. Several townhouses were leaking and as you can see, there was a lot of water even though they all had a drain-tile sump basket system.
These have a few issues, gutters were not installed when the Burnsville Townhouses were built, some owners did add them but water was falling into the rock landscaping and had no way to get over the plastic edging, creating a moot and severe pushing on the basement foundation when freeze/thaw was present.
Over time the hollow basement walls fill with sand and dirt that's in the water, this cuts off the flow to the drain tile system and sump basket. Notice how high on the wall the water stains are?
Burnsville Factory
Foundation Waterproofing
Factory and industrial managers, call Great Lakes Waterproofing for your exterior foundation waterproofing using all-natural bentonite, we typically work on the exterior stopping water before it moves through the foundation.
Great Lakes Waterproofing sees buildings like this all the time, the grade extends several feet above the wet basement floor. Not only would a drain-tile sump system be very expensive but the factory would need to shut down the area that's getting worked on which might not be an option.
Over winter the heat tape in this downspout stopped working, freezing water will not flow away but fills the nooks and voids near the foundation. With the freeze/thaw cycle this acts as a wedge, creating cracks and holes in your basement wall allowing water to flow through and even more damage.
Exterior bentonite injections from Great Lakes Waterproofing is an easy solution for these problems. Our waterproofing equipment is staged outside so we rarely interfere with any work or employees.
Burnsville Wet Basement Waterproofing
We call this basement wall crack a "stair-step" crack and they are very common in block walls. Just a fraction of an inch of settling will cause these hair line cracks at the mortar joints.
They don't look like much but when water is present around the foundation, it will push through at a large rate making your basement wet.
Most of the time, these basement wall cracks will go from floor to ceiling and look the same on the inside of the wet basement.
This Burnsville Customer had a drain tile sump system but it was bone dry and looked like it never had turned on. No need to replace the drain tile system, this customer went with exterior bentonite injections sealing off this area from more water flowing through the basement wall for Real Waterproofing!
Call today for a free estimate from Great Lakes Waterproofing, we don't believe in the hard sell and can make the process go quickly. Prices are usually done right away and we give you time to make the right decision.
Downspout Neglect
Downspouts might be the most important part of having a dry basement but up here in Burnsville they might be the most neglected part of the home.
We see this all the time, the downspout extension is long gone or run over and flattened by the lawnmower. This leads to a concentrated water flow in this location and this basement wall is not a straight wall. This "notched" area will hold a ton of water which over time finds cracks or holes and moves through the wall.
In this case, the Burnsville Home has a working drain tile system but the water is coming in above the floor. Exterior waterproofing takes care of basement wall from the outside for Real Waterproofing!
Wet Basement Wall Crack
Basement wall cracks are pretty common and the most likely cause of basement water issues. Vertical or horiztonal foundation cracking usually goes from floor to ceiling and will become the path of least resistance with enough water, bypassing the drain tile system and flooding your basement.
This Burnsville Home has foundation cracking right below the egress window, see the concrete patch? Sure this helps with grade-level water but what about the rest of the crack?
This is where Real Waterproofing works, we seal up these foundation cracks with bentonite, stopping water before it moves through, usually at a fraction of the cost of drain tile sump pump systems.
Drain Tile Not Working
This Burnsville Homeowner paid a lot of money to have an interior drain tile system installed for waterproofing.
Shortly after, when we got a big rain storm, the homeowner notice even more water than before. The reasons were clear, the corrugated transition (the black at the wall/floor) was allowing water to back flow into the room.
The stained basement blocks indicate the hollow cores are filling with water and some of this is also moving through the wall higher than the underfloor drain tile.
The solution is Real Waterproofing, waterproofing the exterior with all-natural bentonite, the world's #1 waterproofing material.
