This doesn’t look right, was it just not finished correctly? Should there be some flashing over it to stop water from going behind it?
It looks like porous landcape fabric over a drain channel system
i only see about 1~2 basements a year
geotextile has delaminated from the drainage mat or similar product
should be a very easy straightforward repair…right Mr. Bubber
It appears they used/placed a dimpled membrane against the wall, doesn’t look fastened much along the top. Even it is was tighter/screwed/caulked along the top, months-a year down the road water will very likely get BEHIND the membrane. (so hopefully then did use visqueen etc BEFORE they placed that membrane against the wall)
So to my old azz, what’s important is,
first, did they identify/determine the actual problem(s) correctly.
if they did and all the water that was entering the basement was through exterior cracks etc then,
did they dig it all the way DOWN to the footing.
Sometimes they don’t = problems.
if they did dig it all the way down I would then want to know,
what materials/sealants were used on/over the cracks and wall.
and, did they backfill 90%+ with clean gravel or did they backfill with some or all of the same excavated soil.
imo, important questions that need the right answers for the benefit of the homeowner
This is a good basement waterproofing article written by J McEwen up in Canada, eh.
http://www.johnmcewen.ca/waterproof.php
The THIRD photo from the top… which is about 1/2 down
“You can fill this trench with water and it will not leak into the basement”
Correct… so long as any cracks were filled/sealed with hydraulic cement and, the wall was tarred etc, a thick tar NOT that thin watery spray-on, roll-on damproof garbage…and then visqueen was applied over/onto the tar…
nope, won’t leak. In fact, leave the trench filled with water, go ahead, won’t leak.
Note-- these tars/roofing cement etc applied to basement walls, new builds or not, should NOT be applied when temp’s are around/below 32 degrees and should not be applied to wet surfaces, in my honest opinion…because they won’t LAST as long, they don’t ‘stick–adhere’ to the walls too good in those conditions.
And in his article, near the end…where it says, What Isn’t a waterproof membrane?
3. System platon… heavy BLACK plastic mats with DIMPLES on one side is not waterproofing.
Correct.
See this all the time now, new builds. They spray-on a thin coating of tar etc, then place a black dimpled membrane against the walls then backfilled with all of the same excavated soil which is often clay, plus all the other crap they don’t want to haul away and…the cities ok it, pass inspection!! lol
They don’t seal/fill all rod holes with hydraulic cement, when they could. Instead they often place a cork in the dumb holes. Corks deteriorate, and that’s if they use the right–size corks in all rod holes.
They don’t apply a thick mastic/tar etc.
They don’t use visqueen over the tar.
They most often use black plastic perforated drain tile, weak cheap junk.
They don’t backfill with most–all gravel.
Mistakes, big mistakes. Yet the city okays this incompetent garbage.
With new builds, there is plenty of room and so everything should get done/sealed perfectly, but, often they don’t.
A ton LESS costly as well.
Hate to keep adding but like to try and explain some things, a lil more…
Why I asked the questions above, in previous post…
Because of shtt like this, previous exterior job some moron did…
here an individual photo of why I asked, did they use/apply a,b,c and if they backfilled with most-all gravel or the SAME SOIL as they did here
http://picasaweb.google.com/101049034584960315932/BasementWaterproofing10#5442193184475846146
Previous dodo-birds did not use hydraulic cemnet in-over the cracks and backfilled with all the same excavated soil, it doesn’t last!! The top of the visqueen and tar will get pulled DOWN with/when the backfilled soil settles, exposing the tops of any cracks or other openings in walls
And the rest of the photos from that house in Royal Oak MI…
http://picasaweb.google.com/101049034584960315932/BasementWaterproofing10 click any photo to enlarge that photo
The last photo, see the cheap-black plastic perf drain tile NOW, out in the street waiting to be hauled away like the junk it is
http://picasaweb.google.com/101049034584960315932/BasementWaterproofing10#5442193432368797874
If I can remember correctly, the morons who did this half azz’d job, charged the homeowners more $$ than we did, go figure.
They didn’t pay anything to have all that shtt hauled away.
They didn’t pay shtt for a gravel backfill.
They didn’t use hydraulic cement
They DID pay for that cheap azz drain tile which cost them about… $19, that’s about it, yet charged more for one sorry azz job. By the way, where’s that guarantee/warranty…where are they? lol I’ll tell ya where they are, ripping off another homeowner, that’s where.
The contractor went cheap on that install. Dimpled membranes require a cap to be installed over horizontal seams.
Mike,
you may have missed my reply… we are back in murder city, had to let the great white north go, least for now.
dimpled membrane’s… see them all the time now, inside and out.
inside, does nothing other than hide/conceal the basement wall, possible cracks,water, mold, efflorescence.
outside, we see them used after the walls were damproofed (not waterproofed) and the same shtty excavated soil backfilled.
Sorry to hear about the south bound move. Maybe a bit closer so we can get together for a bear some day
…am always available for a brew or two, yes sir.