All About Basement Waterproofing

    Waterproofing is a general term that describes the range of services performed to fix leaky basements. What we are actually doing to remedy the water seepage is to manage and direct it to a pumping station and expel it to the exterior where it came from. The first step in basement waterproofing is to identify the source of the leak. This can usually be accomplished by consulting with the homeowner to determine how, when, and where the problem occurs. If the basement is unfinished, diagnosis is much easier because water leaves a trail. Rest assured, however, as our estimators are also well trained to help you find the source of basement seepage to eliminate a potential wet basement or worse yet a flooded basement that is finished. At the same time upon our inspection we can detect any possible needed foundation repair that may have to be addressed immediately or in the near future.

A good portion of our Basement Waterproofing repairs in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and New York involve sealing foundation wall cracks in poured concrete and block foundations (poured concrete and block are the most common type of foundations in the greater New Jersey area). Cracks are readily visible in an unfinished basement; leaking cracks leave water stains on the foundation wall. In a finished basement, the diagnosis starts by identifying the area where water first enters the basement, then searching the exterior for a crack.

Most cracks extend to the top of the foundation wall, which is normally exposed above the soil line. Cracks can be sealed from the interior using our Epoxy / Urethane injection process or from the exterior using our Wall-Clay process. Both methods are very reliable in preventing further seepage through the crack and into the basement.

Water Damage describes a large number of possible losses caused by water intruding where it attacks your home by destructive processes such as rotting of wood, growth, rusting of steel, de-laminating of materials such as plywood, and many, many others.

Whether it is a leak, a major flood or resulting water damage mold, our specialist technicians are able to respond quickly, effectively and appropriately. Even if the damage is caused by a leaking washing machine or a natural flooding incident we are equipped to restore your property to pre-incident condition.

The damage may be imperceptibly slow and minor such as water spots that will eventually mar a surface, or it may be instantaneous and catastrophic such as flooding. However fast it occurs, water damage is a very major contributor to loss of property.

One’s homeowner’s insurance policy may or may not cover the costs associated with water damage and the process of water damage restoration. While a common cause of residential water damage is often the failure of a sump pump, many homeowners’ insurance policies do not cover the associated costs without an addendum which adds to the monthly premium of the policy. Affordable Waterproofing understands your trouble, and assure to offer our customers competitive and affordable pricing on all their services.

Do you have a mildew smell, basement mold or crawl space mold that is creating a musty odor?

The odor is very common in your basement, mildew mold is from a warm moist climate.

Hence most basements are moist and dark they are great breeding grounds for black mold. It is even familiar when there is a heavy amount of mildew present, that a susceptible individual could acquire allergies and common mold symptoms from the mold settling on the surface. Mold removal should be addressed as soon as it is identified and tested. Mold testing in NJ should include surface and air borne samples.

By just having a small amount of basement mildew mold or crawl space mold in the house, one could become quite sick just by walking into the small area. This happens because there is no circulation of fresh air and when inhaling the airborne mold spores in a warm musty basement the toxic mold spores will enter into the system and attach into the bodies lungs and nasal cavities.

These will cause some common and very harmful mold symptoms, such as headaches, water eyes, and others. Some common symptoms of mold are coughing, headaches, scratchy throat, and blood in the lungs. Mold symptoms become common in individuals who have lower immunity such as the elderly and infants. We call this immuno comprimised. Having mold in your breathing space may cause many Mold Symptoms. Scratchy throats are common. An individual may feel their throat to be scratchy almost as if they have to cough. A scratchy throat is a common black mold identifier.

A well-known issue that arises in killing mold mildew in a basement is searching through the carpeting. You should always be aware if there ever been a leak inside the basement or some type of water intrusion event, if so black mold may be on the carpet and rather than hiring a carpet cleaning company you may want to replace the entire carpeting. Since the carpeting became extremely damp it will be unfeasible to remove the spores from the old carpet. Even the tack strips below the carpeting would need to be removed. This is very common with basement mildew mold, just be sure to maintain the carpeting and if one is going to rip out the carpets make sure to remove the tack steps below. The wooden tack strips can carry quite a bit of mildew and mold.