Foundation and Basement Services in Evanston, Illinois
Whether your basement floods during heavy rains or in the spring time when the snow melts or you have large cracks in your foundation, you know this is a serious problem. Our experts are here to provide assistance when there is any type of basement flooding, foundation settlement, or buckling foundation wall problem. We use time tested products and methods that our team stands behind. We have a team of experts in the Evanston area that are trained to correctly evaluate your problem to implement a unique solution to that problem that will keep your home properly protected. When our team installs a crawl space or 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 see an issue with the craw space, basement, or foundation that you get in touch with an experienced repair company. We say this due to there are some potentially dangerous problems that will accompany these issues such as mildew, structural damage, and even catastrophic foundation damage. It doesn’t matter if you are in need of our basement waterproofing products to prevent water damage in your home, foundation repair products to stop cracks from growing in the foundation, or crawl space services to prevent unnecessary damage under your home, our team is here to help you.
Basement Waterproofing
Your basement is a very important part of the home regardless of if it is being used as a storage area or if you have a finished space down there. Because of this, it is necessary that the entire space is dry and any type of flooding is prevented. Due to the fact that water can get into a basement through a variety of different places, there are a number of repair possibilities that we will use to keep the area safe. The primary places that we find water leaking is at cracks in the foundation walls, whether these are in concrete or at mortar joints between blocks, at the cove joint, which is where the foundation walls and floor meet, and finally at windows that may be at or even below the soil.
Regardless of where you’re having the problem we have solutions that are designed to collect, divert, and remove the water from the basement. If you’ve got leaky cracks, the first step is implementing a wall crack repair to stop the crack from leaking and growing. If the water is leaking at the cove or even at the windows, having a custom drainage system installed will help remove the water from the basement. In some of the more problematic instances, occasionally with old homes that have stone, block, or brick foundations, we will recommend installing one of our entire wall solution that is made up of a full height heavy duty liner that will collect and divert water. Sometimes people already have a waterproofing system installed but it struggles to keep up with flooding water, we can replace it with a new, upgraded sump pump to make the system as good as new. On top of installing systems, we can also help you evaluate the drainage in the yard to assist with preventing water from sitting at the foundation and seeping in.
Structural Foundation Repair
Your homes foundation is easily one of the most important areas of the home. It not only holds the home itself but it also is the basement walls. If there are foundation problems, usually, they will manifest themselves in the form of diagonal cracks in your outside brickwork, long cracks that run the length of the foundation or across the basement walls. Sometimes, you will see that your doors will get stuck or even cracks at the corners of them. You may also have an issue where your basement walls are buckling into the basement. While these issues may not seem critical at first, they are all indicative of a sinking or settling foundation and it is important to have an expert evaluate the foundation for problems to determine if a repair needs to be installed.
It is good that many foundation problems have very similar causes and our team is very good at tracking down those problems. We can offer a repair product that is for your specific problem to permanently repair and stabilize the foundation. If you have a settling foundation, we will install a system of foundation piers to stabilize the foundation. Depending on how bad it is and where it is, we will use either helical piers or push piers. Both types of piers are very strong and can help stabilize your foundation. If you have basement walls that are bowing, depending on how much the wall is buckling, it can be solved with a few possible options. Our team can utilize a series of wall anchors which are 2 large steel plates and these are connected by a long, steel rod, or c shaped braces that sit vertically against the cracks to push the section back in line and prevent further bowing, or even carbon fiber straps to strengthen along cracks and prevent the wall from bowing. If they are correctly installed, these products will straighten the buckling wall and prevent it from coming out of alignment again.
Crawl Space Solutions
In our area, there are many homes that were built with crawl spaces instead of basements. As long as there have been crawl spaces, these were constructed with open vents which was intended to increase fresh air flow through the space and keep it dry. Unfortunately, this is rarely what happens. The vents allow water to enter the space when it rains or snows and the vents prevent proper evaporation which causes the humidity levels to stay high which will eventually foster the growth of mildew. We have found that up to ½ of the air in your home enters through the crawl space so having the space protected from the elements and controlling excess humidity will increase the overall air quality in your home.
Perma-Seal has been working with crawl spaces as long as we have been in business and we know the best way to close them off and control the humidity. We do this using a method known as encapsulation which is the installation of a thick liner or vapor barrier, sometimes accompanied by insulation products, which are thick plastic and vinyl sheets as well as vent covers and a sturdy door that will close off the area totally and prevent any excess moisture from entering. This will also prevent pests and animals from getting in the crawl space which will help keep any items there safe and allow you to use it for storage. Once your crawl space is protected, we will install a combination dehumidifier and air filter. It will reduce the excess humidity to a proper level as well as remove pollutants from the air.
Additional Services
We also provide a variety of services to help upgrade your basement. We have basement windows to increase the air flow or provide additional light in the area. When waterproofing the basement, we can install our wall system as part of a pre-finishing service that is both waterproof and resistant to the growth of mildew. When you are building a new home, our new construction waterproofing solutions can prevent any water from entering the home before it can become a problem. If you’ve have a waterproofing system we did not install 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 products above, please 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.