Basement Waterproofing in Lowell, MA

Friday, May 24th, 2024 by Marcus Girard

Challenge

Basements are often used as storage space. When water leaks through the foundation, personal belongings in that storage space are at risk of getting damaged. A homeowner in Lowell, MA was experiencing these leaky basement issues. Water entered the basement from all angles every time it rained. Up to 1" of water has filled the basement floor at a time. Sick of the stress and cleanup process, she reached out to Erickson Foundation Solutions.

Our Design Specialist came out to the home to provide a free home inspection. Upon completion of the inspection, the following waterproofing system was recommended:

99' of perimeter drainage (WaterGuard) along the base of the foundation walls to capture water
9' of surface drainage (TrenchDrain) to redirect water around the oil tank, water heater, and stairs
22' of feed lines to set up shortcuts from high influx areas to the sump pump
1 TripleSafe sump pump systems, including a battery back-up pump
2 IceGuards, to prevent the discharge line from freezing in cold temperatures
20' of exterior drainage line, ensuring the water is pumped out and away from the home.

Solution

On the day of the scheduled installation, Ryan Champagne and his crew arrived at the home. Ryan walked through the home with the homeowners and went over the goals they wanted to see in order to keep their home safe. The installation crew began work on the basement with the installation of WaterGuard perimeter drainage. First, they chipped out 8” of concrete along the edge of the foundation floor. Jackhammering can be a dusty process, so our crew made sure to take the necessary precautions to keep everything in the area clean and safe. After chipping out the perimeter, it is removed to make room for WaterGuard. The system was installed around 130’ of the entire basement perimeter. The system sits inside crushed stone to allow for proper drainage flow. In areas where WaterGuard isn’t available, TrenchDrain is used. The TrenchDrain connects to WaterGuard and reroutes water around the water heater and the stairs. We installed a feed line in the foundation to make sure that water was being properly distributed from an old sump basin to the new sump pump system. The feed line also connects to the WaterGuard system.

The drainage system drains directly into the TripleSafe basin. Once the basin is created, our TripleSafe sump pump system can be installed. Our TripleSafe system is made up of three pumps: 1. A 1/3 horsepower primary AC pump. This pump removes standard amounts of water from the home. 2. A 1/2 horsepower pump. This pump turns on when the water level in the sump basin rises. This is usually due to heavy rains or snow melting. 3. A battery backup pump. This battery backup pump comes with an alarm and is powered by a 120-amp, sealed, maintenance-free battery. The TripleSafe also includes a WaterWatch alarm system. This alarm system is also battery powered and will alert you if water is anywhere near the surface of your sump basin.

To get the water out of the home, a discharge line was needed. The TripleSafe had 20’ of discharge lines installed, so the sump pump could remove the water from the basement to a safe area behind the homeowner's shed. Two IceGuards were attached to the exterior discharge line. IceGuard is a free-flowing exterior discharge system that prevents freezing. It’s important that the discharge lines stay unfrozen, or else they could back up and flood the sump basin, flooding the basement.

The installation crew did one last walkthrough with the homeowners to show off all the work they did and answer any questions they had. These homeowners were thrilled that their basement will stay dry forever and their personal belongings will stay safe.