Drainage service
Basement & Foundation Drainage
Exterior foundation drainage — footing drains, waterproofing and grade correction that stop water before it reaches the basement wall.
Overview
Basement & Foundation Drainage in southeastern Pennsylvania
Almost all basement water originates outside the basement. It arrives from somewhere, travels along a route, and enters at a point — and identifying all three determines whether the right correction is grading and downspout work or a full exterior system.
We address the exterior causes in order of cost and effect before recommending excavation, because a substantial share of basement water problems in this region resolve at the grading and roof-water stage.
System components
Footing drain / Exterior membrane / Drainage board / Regraded backfill
The entry point tells you the cause
Water at the cove joint where wall meets floor indicates hydrostatic pressure beneath the slab. Water through the wall mid-height indicates saturated backfill at that depth, usually from surface water or roof discharge above rather than a deep water table. Water at a window well is almost always a well with no drain, or one that has silted up. Each points somewhere different.
It is worth photographing where water appears before it dries, because that observation is more diagnostic than anything visible afterwards.
Exterior correction versus an interior system
Interior perimeter systems manage water that has already reached the structure. For a genuine high water table they may be the practical answer. Where the cause is surface water and roof discharge saturating the backfill, an interior system collects and pumps water that never had to arrive — permanently, at running cost, with the foundation still carrying the load.
Exterior work is more disruptive and more expensive, and it addresses the wall while the wall is exposed. Which is appropriate depends on the diagnosis, not on preference.
Questions
Basement & Foundation Drainage questions
How do I tell condensation from a basement leak?
Tape a sealed square of plastic sheet tightly to the wall or floor and leave it two days. Moisture on the room side is condensation from humid air; moisture against the masonry is water coming through. The two have entirely unrelated fixes, so it is worth confirming first.
Do I need to excavate around the whole foundation?
Rarely. Exterior work is normally scoped to the affected elevation rather than the full perimeter, because the water is arriving on a particular side for a particular reason. Establishing which side and why is what keeps the scope proportionate.
Will fixing the grading and downspouts stop my basement water?
In a substantial share of cases in this region it does, or it reduces the problem enough to change what any further work needs to be. Those two corrections are comparatively inexpensive and address the two most common causes, which is why they come first.
By town
Basement Drainage by town
Each page covers how this system behaves on that town's ground.
Need basement drainage?
On-site assessment. Free written estimate. No obligation.