The Drawbacks of Interior Waterproofing

Picture of finished basement with french doors.

With the ground thawing out as warmer temperatures make their way deeper into the soil around your home, you may begin to notice more moisture on the walls of your basement or crawlspace. To deal with this normal home maintenance issue, you may be tempted by advertisements claiming that a quick fix will remedy those leaking walls. Interior waterproofing may be an option for your home, but there are many factors to consider first.

The Source of the Water Makes A Big Difference

Interior waterproofing may sound like an easy solution that you could possibly even handle yourself, but before you order supplies and get to work, there is some preliminary investigation necessary to better understand the issue. What you discover after doing some digging—perhaps literally—will tell you which fix is right for your home or business.

Discerning the source of the moisture on your basement walls or floors is critical to knowing how to best waterproof the space. If the water is due to condensation from high humidity, the fix could be as simple as installing a dehumidifier and leaving the walls as they are. A dehumidifier, however, is no help if the moisture is making its way in through the walls.

Interior Waterproofing Can Be A Complicated Fix

A high-water table or poor drainage surrounding your basement walls and foundation can lead to water finding its way in. Waterproofing from the inside is not as simple of a solution as you may have been led to believe. Even after determining the source of the moisture, there are still lots of questions that need to be answered.

Using the proper techniques to seal your walls gets complicated quickly. Which type of polyurethane caulk is the correct choice for the task at hand? Should an epoxy filler be used to account for expansion? Will some kind of concrete coating suffice for keeping the space dry long-term?

As you can already begin to understand, this is not a simple issue. The best step a home or business owner can take is contacting an experienced waterproofing professional like Tom’s Basement Waterproofing. Relying on our expertise and state of the art equipment, a professional waterproofing company can adequately evaluate your specific situation to know which solution will work best.

Call Tom’s Basement Waterproofing at (586) 949-7826 or use our online contact form to schedule an inspection of your space.