Professional Basement Waterproofing in Saint Paul, MN

A home foundation may crack or sink for a wide variety of reasons. These reasons can come from both inside and outside your home, which is why it’s so important to have a professional take a look at your home’s foundation. Here are a few of the things you might want to think about when you’re trying to prevent cracking and sinking in your home’s foundation.  

• Issues With the Concrete  

The first main category of problems regards all issues with your home’s concrete. This can arise due to issues with the initial pouring of the concrete or due to issues with the concrete over time. Additionally, even if the problem has to do with the concrete itself, it may not be because the initial construction crew did poor work, but instead because there were issues with the design.  

Common problems with the concrete itself include concrete slabs that are too thick or not thick enough, a low-quality concrete mix, and small cracks in the concrete that get larger over time. First, the concrete needs to have the appropriate design and mixture. Then, an expert needs to pour the concrete appropriately. Both things need to be true to avoid concrete problems overall.  

• Issues With the Soil  

The other category of problems has to do with problems regarding the soil underneath the concrete. These problems may arise because the initial construction crew didn’t handle the preparation stage effectively, because your home doesn’t sit on the best soil for a concrete slab, or even because problems with the weather are creating issues with your soil.  

For example, you may run into problems if the construction crew didn’t compact the soil appropriately. You can also have problems with heavy rainfall, as it can cause the soil underneath the concrete to expand and push up against the concrete. Excess water in the soil can also push on the soil with immense amounts of hydrostatic pressure, equally creating serious concrete problems.  

If you’re concerned about how much money potential basement waterproofing and repairs may cost you, you may be reluctant to reach out to a professional for guidance. After all, DIY can be a great solution for many other home problems—why not try and take on a challenge like this on your own? Unfortunately, there’s more than one reason you may want to leave the basement waterproofing and repair work to the professionals, including:   

• The Expense of DIY  

These specific DIY projects are often far more expensive than you anticipate they’re going to be. Attempting to waterproof your foundation without help from professionals can rapidly blow your home repair budget out of the water. This process requires you to purchase not only unique materials but special tools as well. Comparatively, professional teams already have the tools they need to install your waterproofing measures on hand. They can also often procure any necessary materials for less than market cost courtesy of partnerships with industry-trusted manufacturers.  

Trying to waterproof your foundation on your own is also going to cost you time. Not only might you have to take days off from work to see this sort of project through to the end, but you’ll lose weeks—or even months—to the mere process of attempting to repair your home.  

• Mistakes and Risks to Your Health   

There is always a chance that  mistakes get made while attempting to DIY waterproofing your foundation. The home excavation process, for example, can take months to get through without professional guidance. During that time, the weather can have a detrimental impact on your foundation’s overall structural integrity, and it’s also possible to dig into the footings or other supports that hold your home upright.  

Comparatively, professionals can bring their whole team out to your property and see a waterproofing installation in a matter of days, rain or shine. If youwork with a team of professionals, you can keep your repair costs low. 

A property’s crawl space is one of the areas that is most vulnerable to dampness and its associated issues. This is because crawl spaces tend not to benefit from the same protections as the rest of a property. Water and dampness have two main points of entry into a crawl space: exposed vents and cracks in the structure of your home.  

• Uncovered Crawl Space Vents  

Crawl space vents were commonly installed in properties to manage dampness because it was believed that the increased airflow would prevent moisture buildup. These days, we know that is not true. These vents are the leading cause of dampness and humidity in a crawl space that is otherwise undamaged.  

This is partly because of how they let water into the space during periods of flooding and extreme weather, but also because they leave a crawl space more open to the elements. In winter, the temperature in a crawl space can plummet causing pipes to freeze and burst. In summer, however, the warm, humid air that enters a crawl space can cause condensation to form on cool surfaces, thereby creating dampness.  

• Structural Damage  

If you do not have crawl space vents, or you have had them covered, and you still have issues with dampness, the most likely cause is damage to the structure of your home. Any damage that causes cracking in the walls or floor of your property’s crawl space acts as an entry point for moisture and can incubate dampness and humidity.  

The most common causes of structural damage are excessive hydrostatic pressure as a result of saturated soil or underground water sources and foundation damage. Your property’s foundation can be damaged in several ways, but it will usually come down to issues with the soil around your home. Expansive soil can damage a property as it shrinks and expands during climate changes.   

Years ago, the only option for repairing seriously damaged or sunken concrete, whether it was a slab or a full property foundation, was to replace it. This has some notable drawbacks and issues that are fairly obvious and replacement is now a very last resort. 

Replacement 

The benefits of replacing damaged concrete are few unless you already deal with the underlying cause of damage. The most obvious is that the replacement concrete is smooth, flawless, and consistent in its strength. This is something that even the best repairs cannot offer to the same degree. However, this is a time-consuming and costly process. 

The main downside, aside from the time and cost of the process, is the fact that replacing concrete does not actually fix the issue with your property. You will need to undertake additional work to protect the new concrete surface or the damage will simply recur at a later date. This adds to the cost and disruption. If the concrete in question is a part of your property’s foundation, this can cost literally thousands of dollars. 

Repair 

These days, there are many effective concrete lifting and repair methods for surfaces and structures of all kinds that are both relatively quick and fairly cost-effective. For foundations, for example, there are foundation piers, while single concrete slabs and small stairways can often be lifted and repaired with products like PolyRenewal™ foam. 

The benefits of repair are many. First and foremost, repair methods are designed to address the underlying cause as well as the cosmetic damage to a concrete surface. This makes them far preferable to many people. The only downside is that they have a cutoff point. There are still some concrete surfaces that are simply beyond repair. For these surfaces, replacement is the only option. This is why it is best to act quickly when you see signs of damage.