When you first owned your house, it probably felt like an accomplishment, an achieved life goal. Many memories have been made, perhaps many happy celebrations with family and friends. That is why home is such a special place to most people. Someone once said” Home is where love resides, memories are created, friends and family belong, and laughter never ends”.

Homes are special places that need to be kept in good state. That is why keeping an eye in its foundation is very crucial. A strong and solid foundation will keep your house standing for many years to come. And many family generations will enjoy the home you have owned and care for.

There are different foundation types such as crawl spaces, concrete, slabs, cinder blocks and partial or full basement. Sometimes depending on the age of the houses the walls can show signs of deterioration for example efflorescence may be present. Efflorescence is a white or grey powder that appears on concrete surfaces, this can happen when moisture activates the salts that are present in the concrete making it appear in the surface through evaporation or hydrostatic pressure. Other sign of foundation troubles are cracks, it could be that you are in the presence of expansion cracks, these are very common because concrete expands and contracts with the change of seasons and temperatures, usually there is nothing to worry with the expansion cracks, if it is a structural type of crack it could be something to be concern about, major cracks are usually present between the basement  wall  and the floor slab. For example, if a crack runs from floor to ceiling and is more than a quarter of an inch wide, this may indicate a structural problem with the wall or the footings. Leading to common problems such as basement leaks.  Then you can ask yourself: Can I waterproof my basement from the inside? To answer this question, you will need a professional opinion on how to repair it. We at Canada waterproofers are asked this question all the time by concerned homeowners.

When doing in-home consultations, common warning signs of a leaky basement we encounter are:

• Leaky wall
• Mold and mildew
• Excess moisture and humidity
• Musty odours
• Efflorescence (grey or white powder present on concrete surface)
• Damp walls, etc.
• Deteriorated foundation walls.

Often people are also concern about the impact these forms of wall deteriorations can have on their health. Is known that the presence of excess moisture and humidity can lead to mold and musty odours creating poor air quality that have been well-known to trigger allergies that causes coughs and headaches or irritations to the nose, skin, and eyes. Maybe some of these symptoms are already familiar to you. Investing in the interior repair of your basement wall can be a very good investment for your home and yours and family’s health as well.

Why waterproofing a house from the inside?

There are good points for doing an interior waterproofing of the basement walls, in doing so it can be more cost effective to homeowners. It doesn’t require mayor excavations like the exterior waterproofing method does. The repair can be done quickly, when the costumers give us the go ahead with the repair we can get working almost immediately, because there is no need to request locates. If there isn’t space between neighboring house the interior waterproofing is the only option available. When renovating a basement is a good idea to install an interior waterproofing system to redirect any water penetration that may happen in the future to avoid future costly repairs. Many times, we see cases where there is a newly full renovated basement and water leaks in causing damages to dry wall, floors, and material properties, all that could be preventing by taking the precautionary step of installing an interior waterproofing system to redirect water away from the foundation walls before any cosmetic renovation is started.

It is very important to care for your home’s foundation health, after all, foundations hold the whole house weight thus supporting the house.  Keeping it strong and doing preventing repairs is the best way of keeping a foundation solid for generations to come. Like Edward Coke once said, “A man’s house is his castle”. I will leave you with this question:  Is your castle’s foundation in good health?