Due to its proximity to Toronto and major highways, the city of Mississauga has experienced significant population growth over the past 35-40 years. This population growth has been the driving force behind fast paced housing development and the need for basement leak repair in Mississauga.
During this time, construction practices have also evolved, resulting in the widespread use of increasingly progressive foundation construction methods. One positive outcome of this evolution in building practices was the shift from the post-war era use of concrete blocks (cinder blocks) to the use of poured concrete for foundation construction.
This change in foundation construction practices has a significant impact on how basements are waterproofed and how basement leaks are repaired in Mississauga.
In this article:
- Basement leak repairs for newer homes (constructed after 1975)
- Basement waterproofing for older homes (constructed before 1975)
Basement leak repairs for newer homes
Having a poured concrete foundation means that you have the greatest number of options for repairing basement leaks. This may come as a surprise, but you don’t have to resort to costly and destructive excavation to professionally repair a foundation leak. In fact, in virtually every situation, poured concrete basement leaks can be fixed using injection repair methods which are undertaken from inside the home.
The best news is that injection repairs cost far less than excavating and waterproofing foundation walls externally, and injection repairs can be done year-round under all weather conditions. As an added bonus, this repair method saves you the high cost and trouble of re-landscaping after excavation work has been completed.
The average cost for repairing a foundation crack by injection, as of November 2018, is $350 – $800 and takes only 2-3 hours to complete. Read more
Foundation cracks are one of the most common causes of basement leaks in poured concrete foundations; naturally, there are other causes as well. For more information on the different basement leak possibilities, follow this hyperlink to sources of basement leaks in poured concrete foundations.
AquaGuard Injection & Waterproofing® has considerable expertise in the pressurized injection of both epoxy and polyurethane to repair just about any leak in a poured concrete foundation. The attributes of the resins we use provide us with the flexibility needed to tackle just about any basement leak repair job needed for a poured concrete foundation.
Basement waterproofing for older homes
Most homes in Mississauga have poured concrete foundations because their construction is fairly recent; however, most homes built prior to the mid 1970’s have concrete block or cinderblock foundations. The design characteristics of block foundations introduce limitations with respect to how they can be repaired and waterproofed when they are leaking or cracked.
As you may have already read above, injection leak repairs are pretty cheap; unfortunately, due to the fact that concrete block walls are largely hollow, making the travel of injected materials uncontrollable, polyurethane and epoxy injection repairs are not suitable waterproofing options for concrete block / cinderblock foundations.
Concrete block foundations consist of rows (properly called “courses”) of cinder blocks bound together using mortar. These blocks have hollow cells (2 or 3 depending on the age of the block) that tend to fill up with water when hydrostatic pressure forces water through cracks in the blocks themselves, or through the mortar joints binding them together.
When groundwater penetrates a block foundation wall, the water drains down within the wall and builds up in the lowest courses. This accumulation of water within the hollow blocks often creates large areas of seepage which infiltrate your basement, necessitating relatively expensive repairs to correct the problem.
Traditionally, leaking block walls were excavated in large sections and waterproofed with a membrane. This method is quite costly, very damaging to landscaping, entirely weather dependent and generally involves the use of very odorous chemicals. The cost for this type of waterproofing depends on accessibility, depth and the linear footage of the excavation.
If the prospect of digging up around your home is out the question, there exists another approach to waterproofing a cinder-block foundation – the installation of an interior perimeter drain system. This method will keep your basement dry, and in most cases costs much less than excavating and waterproofing.
An interior perimeter drain system very effectively drains a water-filled wall into an interior weeping tile system that removes the water. An interior perimeter drain system can be installed year round and, on average, costs about $3500 for approximately 30’ of waterproofing.