It’s already shaping up to be a busy year for Gerry Bonham, owner of Abalon Foundation Repairs.
The main call he’s getting right now is from homeowners finding water pooling in their basements, and he tells everyone the same thing.
“Open the wall,” Bonham says, admitting it’s not something many people want to do.
“Where’s that water source coming from? If it’s coming from higher than the ground level and there’s no snow and water on the exterior, you know it’s going to be a condensation problem.”
Not only will opening up the wall help identify the source, but Bonham points out it’s also necessary to get air flowing behind the wall to start drying it out and preventing mold.
If condensation does end up being the issue, which Bonham says may be evident if there’s frost, homeowners will need to install vapour barrier on the other side of their insulation to keep it from returning.
“It has to be sealed. It has to be that tight envelope. If it isn’t … then you’re going to end up experiencing water in your basement in the spring,” Bonham says.
If the problem stems from a crack, homeowners will want to call in a structural engineer.
“(The engineer) is going to go in there and tell you what is going to need to be done. Then you call somebody like us, and what we do is we give you a price on the work (based) on their findings,” Bonham says.
“If it’s just a crack in the wall and the wall is leaking, then you have to wait basically until the frost is out of the ground, and then you get a contractor to excavate it and reseal it from the exterior.
“You don’t want to try patching the wall from the inside because all you’re going to do is hold the moisture in the wall, and when that freezes, it’s going to expand and you’re going to have problems.”
With the weather warming, Bonham says now is a good time to do some preventative maintenance around the home.
That might include checking to make sure eavestroughs are clear, sump pumps are working, and pushing snow away from foundations, window wells, or anywhere else water might get in.
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