Finished Area in Basement Damaged By Flooding, Manchester, NH

Monday, October 30th, 2023 by Travis Kellogg

Challenge

In 2023, Massachusetts and New Hampshire experienced an unusual amount of rainfall throughout Spring, Summer, and Fall. One homeowner in Manchester, New Hampshire, who had lived in their house for 30 years, had never seen more than minor water seepage into their basement. However, this year, during the summer, their basement was flooded with a couple of inches of water throughout, causing damage to both the finished and unfinished portions of their basement. To prevent this from happening again, they contacted Erickson Foundation Solution, who sent their Design Specialist Victor to conduct a free inspection of the basement.

Prior to Victor's inspection, the homeowner removed the damaged walls from the finished section to prevent mold. After examining the entire basement, Victor came up with a solution to prevent water from entering the basement while also allowing the homeowner to repair the finished portion. Although this may seem like a tall order, it is nothing out of the ordinary for our team.

Solution

Victor completed his inspection and recommended a solution that would check all of the homeowner's boxes.

The system Victor proposed was:

TripleSafe Sump Pump- pumps water to the exterior of the home
95 feet of WaterGuard- collects water from the perimeter and guides it into the sump pump basin
20 feet of Trench Drain- same as WaterGuard but will be installed in front of the oil tank
2 IceGuards- prevents discharge from freezing or backing up into the basement
18 feet Exterior Drainage Line- buried drainage line to carry water away from the foundation of the home.
Erickson Care Club- yearly service program to clean pumps and drainage to ensure the system is running perfectly

The homeowner loved the proposal and set up a date for installation.

Our installation team, led by Anthony LoCascio, removed the concrete surrounding the basement's perimeter and installed WaterGuard, Trench Drain, and TripleSafe to collect and pump out any water. Additionally, they set up IceGuards and an exterior drainage system to prevent water accumulation near the house. Once the system was in place, concrete was poured over it to secure it in place, allowing the homeowner to reinstall their finished walls.

The homeowners were pleased with the outcome of the project. They admired how the perimeter drainage system was concealed and blended in with the basement's appearance. They could easily place their storage shelves and finished walls over the system as if it was never there. Only the sump pump and IceGuards outside the home were visible.

A year after installation, the EFS service team will contact the homeowner to schedule their Erickson Care Club visit. Maintaining the system through the ECC will extend its expected lifespan.