Merrimac, MA Foundation Repair & Radon Mitigation Specialists

A homeowner in Merrimac, Massachusetts had been living in their home for the past 12 years. They had always faced the issue of water seeping onto the slab in the basement, causing damage and creating a moldy smell. Whenever it rained, water would come down and collect at the door for the bulkhead. Tired of cleaning up water, they contacted EFS for a free inspection of their basement. Our Design Specialist, Tom Armano, met with the homeowners and inspected the basement to find a solution to their ongoing seepage and to prevent mold. After Tom's inspection, he recommended installing a SuperSump, TrenchLock WaterGuard, IceGuard, and an Exterior Drainage Line.

Our installation team, led by Steven Dumais, began by chipping out concrete below the bulkhead door. They used jackhammers to break up the concrete and then removed all of the debris before starting to install the drainage and sump pump. They made sure to create a big enough basin for the sump pump. Once the trench and basin were dug out properly, they installed the TrenchLock and SuperSump into their respective spots. They guided the drainage to the sump and then plumbed the system to the exterior of the home. On the exterior, they installed our IceGuard and EDL to carry water away from the foundation of the home. After the exterior drainage was installed and buried, the team returned to the basement, poured concrete, and locked the system into place.

The homeowners were very happy with the results of the project. After 12 years of dealing with water seeping into their basement, they no longer have to worry about it.

A homeowner in Merrimac, Massachusetts, has lived in their 1950s home for the past 10 years. They noticed the floors in the home begin to slope a couple of years ago. They decided to call a reputable company in the area to inspect their home. A design specialist from EFS inspected the home and found that the foundation wall was bowing and they recommended installing Geolocks to stabilize the foundation wall. 

Our production team began by marking where each Geolock will be installed on the foundation wall. Once spaced apart the team drilled small holes in the foundation wall. While the team was drilling the holes in the foundation, another team member was using an excavator to make a trench 10' away from the foundation wall. Using the holes in the foundation the team inserted a galvanized rod and pushed it through the ground until it pokes into the trench. The team then attached a Geolock Plate to both ends of the rod and then proceeded to tighten the Geolocks until the wall began to move. The Geolock system can straighten the wall over time. By straightening the wall the sloping of the floors will be corrected. 

The homeowners were very happy with the results of the project. 

A homeowner in Merrimac, Massachusetts, recently purchased their home. After moving into the home, the homeowners immediately removed a set of trees that were located close to the home. After the trees were removed the homeowners noticed water coming into their basement through their fieldstone foundation. The homeowner would like to use their basement as a storage area and can't do that with the water entering the basement. The homeowner decided to call EFS for someone to look in their basement. Our design specialist John P. recommended installing an Auxiliary Wall to seal out the water from the exterior of the home. 

Our production team began by clearing out in front of the leaking section of the fieldstone foundation. After the section was clear, the team installed rebar around the fieldstone so that when we poured the Auxiliary wall the wall will be locked in place. After the rebar was secured, the team set up the forms around where the Auxiliary wall will be. The team then began mixing concrete to fill up the forms. The team hand-mixed enough concrete to make a 3' Auxiliary wall. The concrete cured for some time and when it was finally cured, the team came back to the home to remove the forms and remove any imperfections. 

The homeowners were happy that the project went very smoothly. The homeowners no longer have to worry about water coming into their basements and are now able to store personal belongings in the basement. 

This homeowner in Merrimac, Massachusetts was experiencing some water seepage from the walls. Water is coming through the walls and settling on the floor. The homeowner decided to call EFS for a free inspection. 

Design Specialist Michael LaMalfa inspected the home. He found and confirmed that the water is coming in from the walls. Michael recommended installing WaterGurad and TrenchDrain. 

Crew Lead Dillon Kingsbury and his team installed 71' of WaterGuard and 4' TrenchDrain into the basement. 

This homeowner in Merrimac, Massachusetts was experiencing some cracks in the slab in the basement. They would like the cracks to be looked at have a conversation about radon mitigation. They decided to call EFS for a free inspection for homeowners. 

Design Specialist Isaac Hernandez came by the home a couple of days before his appointment to drop off a radon monitoring device. On the day of his appointment, the radon monitoring device will have collected enough data to display the radon levels in the home over the past 24-48 hours. In this case, the radon levels in this home are around 50 pCi/L, which is very high. After seeing the results as high as they were, Isaac recommended installing a radon mitigation system along with sealing the cracks in the basement. 

Crew Lead Dillon Kingsbury and his team arrived at the home and installed the radon mitigation system and sealed the cracks on the slab. 

Jennifer N. of Merrimac, MA was wanting to expand her home by adding a second floor to the house. The house was right on a lake, and had a crawlspace that ranged in height from 14 inches to 30 inches. As she was wanting to build up on her home, the existing support posts and columns within the crawlspace were going to need to be replaced and/or reinforced in order to hold all that additional weight. 

Michael Bradley, a design specialist with Erickson Foundation Solutions, proposed several upgrades and solutions for Jennifer.  Within the crawlspace and beneath the house structure, the plan involved replacing failings support posts with 9 SmartJacks. The SmartJack posts are reinforced steel columns installed over stable footings of engineered fill or concrete footings. These new supports would stabilize the current floor system and provide enough support for the expected added weight of the addition.

Additionally, along the perimeter on one side of the structure, the support posts were replaced with helical piers. Helical piers are ideal for lake front properties, as very little, or no soil, is displaced, which means there is little disruption to the waterfront property or the environment. These piers would also be integral to supporting the second floor addition. 

Lastly, one section of the crawlspace was full of plumbing and electrical lines, and the dirt floor made the space difficult to access. This section would receive a Cleanspace encapsulation, which would make it much easier for contractors and the homeowner to access for future repairs as needed.

Once the job was completed, Jennifer was able to continue with her plans of adding a second floor to her lake front home, with peace of mind that the structure was stable and secure.

Homeowner Ryan M. was in need of some waterproofing in the basement of the home he purchased in 2020. The home itself was originally built in the late 1800's, and the foundation was a mix of stone, brick, and mortar. In the yard close to the home were several large trees, and once the tree's were removed, water bagen leaking into the basement walls, in a section about 15 feet wide. It could have been the tree's were keeping the water away from the home by using it up themselves. Now with the tree's gone, the water was flowing directly into the homes foundation. 

Ryan was hoping to convert the basement area into a more usable space, perhaps even finish parts of it in the future, and so he knew he needed to find a solution to the water leak before the conditions got worse.  He reached out to Erickson Foundation Solutions to design an effective system and prevent the water from doing damage in his basement.

Design specialist John Prince proposed several solutions for what he found in Ryan's basement. The wall with the water leak was bowing in due to the pressure of the saturated soils on the exterior, and so would require stabilization. John also determined the best location for a Fast Drain and sump pump system, which would collect any water penetrating the wall and pump it out. Lastly, to help the stone and brick wall keep it's integrity, John proposed spraying it with a polymer foam, which would keep it bound together. This polymer foam was then also covered with wall vapor barrior system to help with controlling the humidity in the basement. 

Crew lead Scott Crandall and his team were able to successfully install all the proposed items. The first step was to secure the PowerBraces to the bowing wall, which completely stabilized it against the soils on the outside. The wall was then sprayed with the polymer foam. Once the Fast Drain and sump pump system was installed along the perimeter at the base of the wall, the Cleanspace vapor barrior was then installed from floor to ceiling along the same section. 

With the foundation wall stabilized and fully waterproofed, Ryan was able to continue to utilize his basement and plan for future remodeling ideas in the space.