Protecting Your Home With Long-Term Waterproofing

Thinking about waterproofing your home? A professional foundation and basement repair contractor can easily provide you with a catalog of waterproofing solutions to choose from. However, while all of these solutions will keep your home dry, there are some that outlast others.

What waterproofing solutions, then, are more permanent than others? Are there any that are 100 percent permanent, and if so, do you need that kind of comprehensive protection?

Why Do You Need To Waterproof Your Home?

If you’re buying your first home or moving into a newly constructed space, waterproofing may not be high on your list of to-dos. When you live in a place like Baltimore, however, that sees more than its fair share of rain, you’re going to need all of the waterproofing protection you can get.

When you don’t waterproof your home, you risk precipitation dampening not only your belongings but damaging the supports holding up your home. How so? When water gathers around the perimeter of your home, it creates a type of pressure that generates stress. That stress can not only erode your foundation materials, but it can cause them to expand and contract by changing their internal temperature. If the temperature changes too frequently, the stress from the expansions and contractions can cause your foundation or basement to start developing cracks. After the cracks come the leaks.

When you waterproof your foundation and basement, comparatively, you help your foundation stay at a consistent temperature. In doing so, you’ll work to prevent cracks from forming while also actively driving water away from your home – though, of course, the exact nature of your waterproofing will depend on the solutions you’ve employed.

Most Common Waterproofing Solutions

Speaking of waterproofing solutions: there are several that contractors prefer to use on homes all across the country. After your free inspection and quote, you’ll be able to sit down with your contractor and determine which, if any, of these solutions is the best for your home and repair needs.

Your options may include but won’t be limited to:

• Interior French drains
• Sump pumps
• Hydrophobic insulation
• Underground drainage 
• Dehumidifiers
• Vapor barriers 

Are There Any Permanent Waterproofing Solutions?

By having multiple solutions installed to tackle your most severe leaking flooding, which includes our comprehensive basement waterproofing system of interior drains, sump pumps, dehumidifiers, and exterior drainage, you are in a better position to protect your home. With all of these solutions working together, they will keep your basement dry once and for all. 

And it is important to be vigilant of the condition of these solutions. Just like a vehicle and your home as a whole, the repairs you have installed must be maintained. We offer service and maintenance opportunities to do just that so JES technicians can ensure the solutions we installed continue to protect your home.

What should you do, though, if you want to invest in a solution that requires little to no maintenance? Try talking to your contractor about foundation repair options like piering.

Piering is most often used to repair a foundation after it’s cracked. Piers can take the weight of a home off of your foundation and can help you better protect your supports from long-term water damage. Some of the best piering solutions that a contractor may suggest can include:

• Push Piers

These are the most traditional of foundation-repair piering services. Many contractors use Push Piers to support a home suffering from foundation settlement. They are installed to more stable soil strata beneath the foundation to better support the structure. They can even help lift your home back to level.

• Helical Piers

This type of pier is the best to use if you’re only dealing with minor to medium foundation damage, and are ideal for lighter structures like porches, patios, and chimneys.

• Slab Piers

These are like the other two types of piers, but Slab Piers are used specifically for concrete slab foundation stabilization and lifting.

• Other Wall Repair and Reinforcement Systems

Wall damage can vary, so we offer a few different options for repair. Each system permanently stabilizes the walls and prevents any further cracking or inward bowing. Wall Anchors and IntelliBrace beams work best on walls in more severe disrepair, and their unique design allows them to be tightened for potential wall repair. Carbon Fiber supports are best for less severe walls, and they hold the walls in their current positions.

Note that the size of your home and the severity of the leaks you’ve dealt with in the past will all contribute to your contractor’s foundation solution recommendation. It’s also worth saying that piering is an extreme solution. If you want to, you can easily stack waterproofing solutions for long-term protection.

Whatever you do, don’t let your confusion or concerns about the waterproofing process keep you from protecting your home. If you don’t act pre-emptively, you risk damaging not only the belongings you have in storage but the structural supports in your home.

Still not sure where to start? Reach out to a professional foundation or basement repair contractor working in the Baltimore area for a free inspection and quote. These inspectors will be able to tell you more about the state of your home, any waterproofing solutions that have already been installed, and how you can best move forward.