If you have water in your basement you generally call a waterproofing company to help.  In Atlanta, most basement waterproofing companies have salespeople that come out to propose a system to keep you from seeing the water.  These companies make money by selling their waterproofing systems.  This doesn't have to be a bad thing - but understand who you call and what they sell before committing to the work.

There are a few companies that help diagnose where the water is coming from and what the actual problem is.  This takes time and knowledge - and often means you don't need a full waterproofing system but a crack injection or a downspout extension or even better gutters or grading.   These companies often charge to come out (an up front fee that gets applied to the work if you need it) but give you much more information on what is wrong and how to fix it.  There are very few waterproofing "engineers" out there - so unlike foundation repair - you can't just call a 3rd party Structural Engineer.

Most water problems are resolved addressing the three items mentioned above - gutters, downspouts and grading.  If you choose to go this route you will need to be patient.  Water can enter through multiple sources or locations and it is not always clear which of these or combination of these is the primary issue.  If you go the self help route it may take a few rains to verify the issue has been resolved.  In many cases you will save thousands of dollars by spending a little bit of time addressing the issues mentioned above..

NOTE: At Foundation Worx, we prefer to waterproof basement foundations from the EXTERIOR.  Exterior waterproofing stops water from entering your home.  Interior drain systems let water into your home before getting rid of it.  In some cases an interior drain is necessary due to field constraints (field constraints can be obstructions which prohibit us from being able to excavate around the foundation of your home).

If you need your basement waterproofed because you are finishing it, preparing to sell your home or the above steps don't work, then we can help.

***Note:  For poured foundation walls most of these issues are caused by 1 of 2 things:

1) 90% of poured wall leaks are the result of a crack in the poured foundation that is causing/allowing water to enter the space.  If you have a finished basement or wall coverings you may need to cut Sheetrock back to find this crack before someone can give a proposal for the repair. (We will not remove you Sheetrock to search for a crack)

2) About 10% of the problems come from the floor/wall joint.  This is the joint between the floor and wall.  Often when a foundation drain fails or is less effective(unable to handle the volume of water present) the water pressure can build up and come in at this joint.  Unclogging the foundation drain can resolve this.  Other solutions involve an interior drain or even a dig-up to resolve the foundation drain issues (less common on poured walls than block walls).