How can I tell if a crack injection was successful?
It is quite easy to determine if an injection was successful; you can simply use your garden hose to flood the foundation in the area of the repair to confirm that the leak has been completely eliminated. By creating the worst possible exterior conditions, and a significant amount of hydrostatic pressure, (monsoon or heavy snow melt) where the leak originated, you will be able to determine with certainty whether or not the repair was effective. When we complete our injections, we tell our clients that the repair area should be “as dry as a bone”. If this is not the case, additional injection is required.
You should seriously consider testing any foundation crack repair(s) aggressively before you close the basement walls or finish your basement.
Note: Weather permitting, we ask homeowners to turn on the hose at the repair location and let it run while we do our polyurethane injections. This also helps us ensure that we’ve done all that needs to be done. For epoxy crack injections, we recommend that you wait a couple of days before testing with your hose, in order to ensure that the epoxy has cured completely.
When choosing a company to repair your basement leaks, in addition to the price, it is important to consider the level of customer service and warranty support provided. As there is no revenue involved in performing warranty repairs, some contractors will try to avoid honoring them; this becomes plainly evident when your calls do not get returned or you get “attitude” if and when they do come back.
While no company can guarantee that they will be in business 25 years down the road, a professional company stands a better chance than, for example, a company who advertises with a cell phone number. Would you rather save a few dollars on the cost of waterproofing at the expense of a great deal of aggravation when you later try to reach the company for warranty support, or would you rather have cheerful and responsive service regardless of the nature of the subject matter? Regrettably, we have heard quite a number of “waterproofing contractor horror stories” from many frustrated clients we have had the privilege to serve.
