Waterproofing in Clifton, NJ
“Waterproofing” is a loose word for several separate jobs. Which one a house needs depends on where the water gets in, so a company that names a cure before finding the cause has it backwards.
You will be put through to an independent local waterproofing company. Calls may be recorded.
Match the job to the water
Water at the foot of the wall, along its length
An interior drain with a sump pump.
Water through one wall, high up
Exterior waterproofing of that wall, or drainage in the yard above it.
Water at one crack, pipe or window
A leak repair at that spot.
Water rising through the floor
Drainage under the slab and a sump pump.
Damp air and smell, no liquid water
Start with the checks on the wet basement page; a dehumidifier may be all it takes.
Puddles outside against the house
Yard drainage before anything indoors.
Damp or damage under a floor with no basement
Crawl space repair, then encapsulation.
The eight jobs
- Interior drains and wall linersA channel cut into the floor along the wall catches water and leads it to a pump. The usual answer for water at the foot of the wall.Read this page
- Exterior waterproofingThe wall is dug out, coated and drained from outside. A bigger job, used when one wall is the trouble or the inside cannot be opened up.Read this page
- Sump pump installationA pit, a pump and a pipe that move collected water out of the house, with a battery pump for when the power fails.Read this page
- Basement leak repairOne crack, one pipe hole or one window letting water in. Often mended from indoors with no digging.Read this page
- Wet basementDamp air, white powder, a musty smell. How to tell condensation from seepage, and what each one calls for.Read this page
- Crawl space encapsulationA sealed liner over the ground and walls of a crawl space, with the vents closed and the air kept dry.Read this page
- Crawl space repairStanding water, fallen insulation or soft wood under the floor, put right before anything is sealed in.Read this page
- Yard drainage and French drainsDownspout lines, grading and stone trenches that keep roof and yard water off the foundation.Read this page
Usually more than one
Few basements need a single item from this list. An interior drain is nothing without a pump. A pump is only as good as the place its pipe ends. A sealed crawl space still needs its standing water dealt with first. When a company writes up a job, expect two or three of these together, and ask what each part is there to do.
Work in the cheap-to-expensive order where you can: gutters and downspouts, then grading, then repairs at single leak points, then drains and pumps. What affects the price explains why.
About the word itself
Is damp proofing the same as waterproofing?
No. Damp proofing is a thin coating put on foundation walls when a house is built, meant to slow moisture from damp soil. It is not designed to hold back water under pressure. Waterproofing in the repair sense means drains, membranes and pumps.
Does waterproof paint count?
Masonry paint can hide a damp wall for a season. Water pressure behind it lifts it off in sheets. It is a finish, not a fix.
Is foundation repair part of this?
Wall cracks and bowing are one way water gets in, so a waterproofing company will look at them. Straightening or rebuilding a wall that has moved is separate structural work, and a different kind of contractor.