Wall Stabilization and Waterproofing, New Hampshire

Challenge

Property owner J., of Portsmouth, NH, had a rental home they were in the process of remodeling. Their end goal was to eventually be able to add on further additions to the home, either off to the side or by adding a second floor. However, before they could finalize any plans for expansion, they needed to address some ongoing foundation and basement issues.

The structure itself was originally built in the 1920s, and the existing foundation was fieldstone and mortar. In the 1960s, an addition was added to the home with a cinderblock foundation wall system tying into the older fieldstone walls. The fieldstone section of the basement had 6' of space from the cement floor to the floor joists above, while the cinderblock section had just under 7'. 

One of the main concerns was with a 12' foot long section of a cinderblock foundation wall. This wall had several horizontal and diagonal cracks, which were clear signs of bowing in the wall. Soil from the exterior was applying pressure and causing the wall to bow inwards, gradually getting worse over time and becoming unstable.

Another concern was the level of humidity and moisture throughout the entire basement space. The property owners did have an existing sump pump system in place, however, it was very outdated. The basin which housed the pump was a bucket with no lid. The water entering the basement through the walls and the floor were directed to this old pump through channels simply cut into the concrete floor. This left tripping hazards everywhere, and a lot of the moisture and water in the space were not being captured or properly pumped out. 

With all of the humidity and moisture concerns in the basement, the final problem concerned air quality. With so much exposure to water and moisture in the basement, mold and mildew were evident, and the air in the basement was just going to rise and enter the living space above. This was a serious issue that needed to be addressed. 

Erickson Foundation Solutions identified the following challenges and problems in the basement of this property in Portsmouth, NH;

• A severely bowing, cinderblock foundation wall would need to be permanently stabilized.
• The old waterproofing system would need to be upgraded to properly capture and remove the water entering the basement.
• The moisture and humidity in the basement were causing mold and mildew to form.

Solution

In order to address all the concerns for the property owner, and provide them with permanent solutions, our design specialist proposed installation of the following products;

• PowerBraces - to stabilize the cracked and bowing foundation wall.
• TripleSafe Sump Pump - to capture the water entering the basement and efficiently pump it out.
• WaterGuard - channels running along the perimeter of the foundation walls which directs water to the sump pump.
• CleanSpace Wall Vapor Barrier - captures all water entering through the foundation walls and contains it down to the WaterGuard.

The first step was to identify the low spot of the basement and ensure the new TripleSafe Sump Pump basin was placed correctly. Being low would ensure the water entering the basement would always flow towards the pump. With the basin installed, the team then properly laid out the WaterGuard channels along the perimeter of the foundation walls where the water was entering the basement. The production team, led by Dillon Kingsbury and Branden Edwards, installed 14' of WaterGuard along a section of fieldstone foundation, and another 22' of WaterGuard along the cinder block foundation wall. The team had to chip out and remove any concrete obstacles in order to position the WaterGuard system correctly.  The SaniDry dehumidifier was also installed next to the sump pump, which allowed any collected water to be discharged into the pump as well.

The next step involved installation of the CleanSpace Wall Vapor Barrier system. The cracked and bowing cinder block foundation wall was a trouble spot where lots of water was entering the basement. The CleanSpace system was going to ensure the water was contained and not flowing down the wall and onto the floor. The vapor barrier tied directly into the Waterguard, which means any water flowing in will go directly to the sump pump and out of the basement. The other benefit of the wall vapor barrier was containing the moisture in order to improve the air quality in the home. 

Lastly, the PowerBraces were installed on the same wall as the wall vapor barrier system. To install the PowerBraces, the base of the wall supports are anchored to the ground and then encapsulated with concrete, effectively tying them into the basement floor. The top of the braces are bolted to the existing floor joist system, which engineers have determined provides more than enough strength and tension to not only stabilize the foundation wall in question, but in some cases even allow for pushing the wall back to a straight position. In this case, the PowerBraces were cut to about 7' lengths and installed for stabilizing purposes. 

With the entire system installed, the property owner had peace of mind the their basement was protected. The basement waterproofing system was efficiently capturing and removing water from the space, and the crack, bowing foundation wall was now permanently stabilized with supports. 

Project Summary

Products Installed: PowerBraces, TripleSafe Sump Pump, Cleanspace Wall Protection, SaniDry Dehumidifier

Crew Lead: Dillon Kingsbury