A customer in Tacoma, Ruston actually, called and mentioned they had some water coming through the walls of their basement. After a free visit, we were able to figure out the customer needed a basement drainage system. In this case, a crack injection would not do the trick, we needed a full perimeter basement drainage system. What is great about our basement drainage systems is that once the wall is covered and even if new cracks appear, the system will consume the water and feed it down the pipe and out of the basement. Cover the Wall Guard with drywall, and you are done. No drainage issues.
So, you might be asking “What happens to the water once it travels down the wall guard? How does the water get out of the basement?” Great question! We dig a trench in the basement at the foot of the wall and tie in the wall guard to a traditional gravel and pipe water drainage solution. Then, the water typically (not always) flows into a basin that either discharges the water out via gravity or a sump pump to sewer, downspout or other drainage routes. There are some benefits to use a gravity drainage system over a sump pump system. First and foremost, the gravity systems will always work, even in storms. No need for power, gravity is alway here and working. The issue with gravity is that for gravity to work in a drainage scenario, we need to have a slow grade down, so the water can flow. Pump systems are great for getting water up and out when there is not enough runway to provide decent slope.
When it comes to basement waterproofing in the Northwest, it is really important to work with folks that do drainage for a living. Be careful of contractors that say “Yeah, we could do that…”. Drainage is something to leave up to the experts. We have been providing basement and crawlspace drainage solutions to our great customers in the Pacific Northwest. Name a Northwest neighborhood, we have done work there.
