Exterior / outside waterproofing: The best method.

Ignoring a wet basement won’t go away.

In fact, by doing nothing, you’re making the situation worse. The water leaking into your basement is damaging your home’s foundation.

Outlined below are the ten steps to every successful basement waterproofing job. Prior to digging, we call Ontario One Call on your behalf to locate and mark out all underground gas lines and other utilities.

  1. Every exterior / outside waterproofing job begins by digging out the perimeter of the basement wall foundation down to the footings level and approximately 2 feet out from  the wall. The soil is placed on tarps, keeping site clean.
  2. After the exterior / outside basement walls have been dug out, the wall is thoroughly cleaned and searched for cracks, holes, and voids.
  3. Any defects found in the wall are repaired and filled with a hydraulic cement that expands to completely close any gaps.
  4. A cement parging (if required) is applied to the entire basement wall providing strength and base for the additional waterproofing layers.

    Image copyright Delta®-MS

  5. After the parging dries, if the basement is a cinder block or brick foundation, a waterproofing coating is applied from grade down to footings level. With concrete foundations a Blueskin membrane is applied. Either will provide a dry basement.
  6. Delta®-MS membrane is attached to the foundation. It is a dimpled layer which becomes the first line of defense between the earth and basement. The dimples provide an air gap to drain any water straight down into the weeping tiles.
  7. Weeping tiles with filter cloth are installed beside the footings and connected to existing foundation drain system. The weeping tiles are covered with clean coarse gravel to ensure that water drains into the foundation drain connections.
  8. Prior to back filling of the excavation, a water test is done to ensure system drains properly.
  9. The basement is back filled with a tamping device to limit settling of the soil.
  10. Finally, an entire cleanup is done to ensure your property returns to the way it looked before we started.

As soon as the job is completed, we provide you with a 25 year waterproofing guarantee.

Our crews are also experienced in landscaping and we make sure to leave every job the same way. Click here to see examples of completed landscaping projects →