Basement and Foundation Waterproofing and Repair Services in Elgin, Illinois
If your basement experiences flooding when there are extended rains or in the spring during the snow melt or you’ve got long cracks along the foundation, you know this is a serious problem. Our experts are here to provide assistance when you’ve got any kind of crawl space flooding, sinking foundation, or bowing basement wall problem. Our team uses methods and products that we have thoroughly tested over the years that our team stands behind. We have a team of experts in Elgin that are trained to properly investigate your home and evaluate your problem to design a specialized solution for your problem that will keep your home properly repaired. When we install a basement waterproofing system or a repair solution, it is backed by years of experience and trusted products.
It is very important that as soon as you’ve found a problem with the craw space, basement, or foundation that you reach out to an experienced repair company. We recommend this because there are some additional issues that can happen along with these issues including mildew, weakened structure, and even catastrophic foundation damage. It doesn’t matter if you are needing our basement waterproofing products to protect your home, foundation repair products to stop foundation issues, or crawl space services to prevent mildew growth in the crawl space, our experts are here to help you.
Basement Waterproofing
The basement is an important part of the home regardless of if it is only being used as a storage area or have already finished the area. Due to this, it is necessary that the entire space is dry and protected from flooding and excess humidity. Due to the fact that water is able to get into a basement using a variety of possible paths, that means there have to be a variety of repair options that we will use to prevent damage to the area. The primary places that water leaks in is through cracks in the walls, which are usually in concrete or at the joints where the blocks meet, at the cove joint, where the walls and floor meet, and at any windows that may be at or below grade.
No matter where you’re having the problem there are solutions that can collect, divert, and remove water from the basement. If you’ve got dripping basement cracks, the first step is implementing a wall crack repair to control the crack growth and leaking. When water is leaking at the cove joint or even basement windows, installing a custom drainage system can help remove the water from the basement. In some problematic locations, usually with older block, brick, or stone foundations, we will install an entire wall solution that is comprised of a floor to ceiling liner that will collect and divert water. If you’ve already got a waterproofing system in the basement but it cannot keep up with flooding water, we can install a new, more powerful sump pump to breathe new life into the system. In addition to installing systems, we can also help you improve the drainage in the yard to help prevent water from sitting at the foundation and seeping in.
Structural Foundation Repair
The foundation of your home is easily one of the most important areas of the home. It not only supports the home itself but it also forms the basement walls. When there are foundation problems, they will generally show themselves in the form of stair stepping cracks in the brickwork, long cracks that run along the foundation or along basement walls. Sometimes, you will see that the windows or doors will get stuck or even cracks at the corners of them. You may also have an issue where the basement walls are coming into the basement. You may not think these issues seem problematic when you notice them, each of them are indicators of a sinking or settling foundation and they should be evaluated by an expert for specific problems to determine if a repair needs to be performed.
Thankfully, the most common foundation problems stem from similar issues and our experts are very good at tracking down these issues. We can implement a repair solution that is for your particular problem to permanently repair and stabilize the foundation or walls. If you have a settling foundation, we will implement a system of foundation piers to level the foundation. We will install either push piers or helical piers, depending on where and how bad the sinking is. Both are very strong and can stabilize your foundation. If you have basement walls that are bowing, depending on how much the wall is buckling, we have a few potential options. Our team can utilize a series of wall anchors which are 2 large steel plates that are connected by a long, steel rod, or c shaped braces that sit directly against the cracks to push the section back in line and prevent further bowing, or even carbon fiber staples to strengthen along cracks and prevent the wall from bowing. These products will correct the bowing wall and stop it from coming out of alignment.
Crawl Space Solutions
In our area, many of the homes were built with crawl spaces in addition to basements. As long as there have been crawl spaces, these were constructed with open vents to the outside where were intended to help air flow through the space and keep it dry. Unfortunately, the opposite is usually what happens. The vents allow water to enter the space during rain and snow storms and then it never leaves which causes the humidity levels to stay high which will eventually harbor the growth of mildew. We have found that up to ½ of the air in your home can come up through the crawl space so ensuring this area is protected from the outside and controlling excess humidity will improve the overall air quality in your home.
Our team has been working with crawl spaces since we opened our doors and we know the most efficient way to seal them off and control the humidity. This is done using a method known as encapsulation which is the installation of a heavy duty liner, occasionally installed with insulation products, which are heavy duty plastic and vinyl sheets as well as covers to close off existing vents and a heavy duty door that will seal the area completely and stop any excess moisture from entering. Encapsulation will also stop critters and animals from getting in the crawl space which will help keep any items there safe and allow you to use it for storage. After the crawl space is closed off, we will install an air filter and dehumidifier to improve the indoor air quality. This will prevent high levels of humidity as well as remove pollutants from the air.
Additional Services
We also offer a variety of services to help improve the basement and crawl space areas of your home. We can upgrade your basement windows to improve the air flow or increase the amount of light in the area. During basement waterproofing, we can help with pre-finishing the area by installing a wall system that is both waterproof as well as resistant to mildew growth. When you are building a new home, we can install a system of new construction waterproofing systems to stop any potential future water problems. Even if you’ve have a competitors waterproofing system in place, we can perform our preventive maintenance testing so you know it will continue to work at peak efficiency.
Contact Us
If you are interested in any of the solutions above, feel free to fill out the form on our contact us page, visit our frequently asked questions page or give us a call at 630-206-1177 and organize a consultation with one of our experts.