Basement Waterproofing and Crawl Space Repair in MI

Fenton, MI - Customer Appreciation For Ayers Basement Waterproofing

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 03:35:11 -0500

The customer is always right and we here at Ayers Basement Systems couldn't agree more. Recently, we had the pleasure of working on a customer's wet basement in Fenton, MI . Here's what he had to say about Ayers Basement Systems:

"This note comes with great appreciation for the quality work done on my damp and wet basement of 30 years. The three men that did the work deserve a round of applause!!

I have hired a lot of contractors, but these 3 were the very best workers that I have ever seen! They worked constantly from when they arrived until the job was over 2 1/2 days later.

The basement remains completely dry and warm. It is nice to go down there and look around occasionally because it is a job very well done. I would like to thank Paulson's Construction for recommending Ayers Basement Systems. Mr. Ayers priced out the job and it was exactly as he quoted. This is the kind of firm that I would highly recommend. Thanks again and continue to do good work." -R. W. Reynolds

Our philosophy of professionalism, doing a job right the first time and having knowledgeable staff to answer any questions our customers have, has worked for us for over 28 years. We continue to do each job the right way and we think you'll like the results we bring into your home, too.

Where Basements Leaks Come From

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:41:13 -0500

When your basement leaks and is flooded, you know. The space is soaked, and everything's a mess, right?

Here's the rub: Do you know where the water's coming from? If you don't know, you can't address the flooding, and it's going to happen again.

Ayers Basement Systems finds that most basement water comes from one of four following sources. If you're interested in a FREE basement waterproofing inspection and written quote, call or contact us online today! They proudly serve Michigan including areas like Lansing, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Jackson, Battle Creek, Muskegon, Traverse City, Wyoming.

From the Basement Wall/Floor Joint

A basement leaking through the basement wall/floor joint.

The most common way that a basement experiences groundwater leaking is through the basement wall/floor joint, which is where the foundation walls and the basement floor meet. Water pressure can most easily force its way through at this point, where it leaks into the basement through the edges of the floor.

There will always be more water around your home than anywhere else. When your home was built, a large area was excavated so the foundation could be placed. After the foundation is built, any excess are is filled in with backfilled soil. This soil will always be looser- and much more absorbent of water- than any soil around it.

The best way to address this problem is with a perimeter French drain and a sump pump with a battery backup. This intercepts the water where it enters, directs it to the sump pump, and gets it out of the basement.

Leaky Basement Cracks & Pipe Penetration

The white powder (efflorescence), damp concrete, and rust stains are a sure sign that this pipe penetration has been leaking for a long time.

Cracks in basement walls and floors are very common, and in some cases, these cracks leak. And when pipes, wires, and other objects extend through the walls, they can also allow water in through the gaps around their edges.

These cracks and penetrations can be most effectively solved by one of three methods:

The most common solution is to inject a polyurethane polymer into the gap, which can be applied to both wet and dry concrete and, once dried, can expand and contract with the walls. Then a foam strip is run along the leaking crack and into a drywell that's created in the floor. The strip is tooled over with a finishing coating, and the drywell is covered in concrete, leading to an attractive solution.

With some pipe penetrations, the contractor may instead drill two holes to the cavity of the pipe penetration. Then water is injected into the crack, followed by a special chemical that reacts with the water, expanding and completely filling the leaky hole. This allows for a complete, waterproof seal.

With leaking basement floor cracks, a lateral line can be run from the crack to the drainage system, guiding any leaking water directly to your perimeter drain and sump pump.

Through the Basement Windows

When window wells fill with debris and basement windows rot, rust and corrode, it can lead to serious flooding.

Basement windows, as well as crawl space or basement vents, can also leak a significant amount of water into the basement. This happens most often when the window frames rot, rust, or corrode, and also when the window wells fill with water, snow, and debris.

Replacing the window wells with plastic, covered window wells should help keep water and debris away from the windows, and by blocking winter wind, they'll even make your home more energy efficient.

Replace old windows with vinyl, energy efficient windows, and your home will appreciate further energy benefits, with windows that will not corrode in the future. Steel, wood, and metal are inappropriate materials for basement window frames.

Find basement windows that use double-paned low-E glass. These windows will reflect heat and the summer and pull heat into the space in the winter, allowing for the brightest, most temperate basement.

Home Plumbing Leaks

Failing water heaters can easily lead to a flooded basement, and with washing machine hoses under 500 psi of pressure, an unchecked flood can quickly fill a basement
with flooding water.

Even when groundwater is not an issue, there's an awful lot of possible ways to have leaky plumbing. Between your sinks, tubs, toilets, showers, pipes, refrigerator lines, and other plumbing, your basement can be exposed to serious flooding. And when a washing machine or water heater fails, the results can be disastrous!

Protect your home from water heater flooding with the FloodRing, provided by Ayers Basement Systems. This will hold back any flooding water, while a special alarm sounds off to let you know a flood has occurred. They also offer FloodChek washing machine hoses, which include a 25-year warranty against failure. That's much longer than most washing machines last!

Other plumbing issues can't all be stopped entirely- there's just too many sources to cover them all. And if there's a flood upstairs, the water will most often end up in the basement. So if you're planning on finishing the basement, be sure to use inorganic materials that will not be ruined by a flood. This way, an entire floor of your living space isn't ruined should there be an issue.

If you'd like to stop basement leaks, call or contact Ayers Basement Systems today. They offer free basement waterproofing estimates, including written quotes and an 88-page basement waterproofing book, to homeowners in Michigan.

Ayers Basement Systems' service area includes Lansing, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Jackson, Battle Creek, Muskegon, Traverse City, Wyoming and all areas nearby!

Break Time Wine

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:59:22 -0500

The ladies in the offices of Ayers Basement Systems traveled to Hometown Cellars Winery in Ithaca, MI about 8 weeks ago, to make the first two batches of our company Wine.

Hometown Cellars Winery is a full service winery offering over 20 varieties of quality wine for you to sample and choose from as well as wine accessories, wine racks, gift certificates and more.

They also invite you to make your own wine in the premises, with their ow equipment and create customized labels and packages for your creations.

The ladies at Ayers have named their wine creation "Break Time".

Today 11/19/09 they will again travel back to the winery, to bottle the two batches of wine and label the bottles.

These bottles of wine will be given away to special customers and at presentations given by Ayers Basement Systems. The ladies truly hope everyone enjoys a little "Break Time".

Toys for Tots

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:54:54 -0500

Ayers Basement Systems is very fortunate to be a co-sponsor for the Toys for Tots with Independent Bank.

Everyone is invited to drop off new, unwrapped toys at the Toys for Tots drop box located at:

Ayers Basement Systems,
2505 S. Waverly Hwy,
Lansing, MI
48911

We have posted a 6' X 3' sign for Toys for Tots, for the public to be able to locate us better in our front yard.

We are very excited to be a part of this great program and are hoping to collect a record number of Toys this year as the need is really great.

General Manager

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:49:57 -0500

Ayers Basement Systems is expanding and moving to Lansing, MI. Due to Ayers Basement Systems continuous growth the past few years and plans for expansion for the future, we have purchased the buildings and property a 2505 S. Waverly Hwy, Lansing, MI 48911. On Dec. 1, 2009 Ayers Basement Systems will be having a flag raising ceremony with the Basement Systems Flag at 7:30 am. All the company employees, owners and a few invited visitors will attend.

Lansing Basement Waterproofing Company Helps

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:12:35 -0400

Lansing Basement Waterproofing Company Helps

"Fix and List" Michigan Homes

MICHIGAN - A basement waterproofing company serving the greater Lansing and Grand Rapids areas began its "Fix it and List it" program to help Michigan realtors and homeowners sell homes. The goal of the program is to spread the word that repairing a wet basement increases the value of a home and helps expedite the sale of it. Ayers Basement Systems announced the event during the Michigan Association of Realtors Expo on October 7 at the Grand Traverse Report & Spa in Acme, MI.

With a slow housing market in a sluggish economy making houses difficult to sell, residents hoping to sell their home need to have every advantage to make a house stand out. One factor that can quickly turn off a prospective homebuyer is a damp, musty and moldy basement. Ayers Basement Systems in Lansing provides a number of basement waterproofing services throughout the state of Michigan to help homeowners keep their basements dry all the time making their homes cleaner and easier to sell.

The staff at Ayers regularly speaks at realtor events and at individual realtor offices to discuss the program and the benefits it can have for homeowners. They also frequent home inspectors and restoration companies armed with a house-shaped box of donuts. With a 6 months same-as-cash program, homeowners can apply for and pay for work done, and then pay off the loan when they sell their house.

"We make sure we have at least one crew open every Friday so we can get their jobs done as fast as the same week that they ask for the work," said Kathleen Wolf, General Manager of Ayers.

Ayers Basement Systems is a basement waterproofing, crawl space repair and foundation repair specialist that has been serving the mid and western Michigan area for over 25 years. They offer moisture and humidity-controlling products such as sump pumps and dehumidifiers, and provide free estimates for Michigan homeowners. Ayers is a trusted member of the Basement Systems international network of licensed basement waterproofing contractors.

Ayers Basement Systems

3193 Lansing Road

Potterville, MI 48876

1-800-471-4039

http://www.ayersbasementsystems.com/

Working alot in the Jackson and Kalamazoo areas of Michigan

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:56:17 -0400

Over the past few months Ayers Basement Systems, LLC has been working alot in the Jackson and Kalamazoo areas of Michigan. Kalamazoo and the surrounding area tends to be a very wet area. Then when you add a fair amount of rain to that mix , you get flooded basements and crawlspaces. Ayers Basement Systems,LLC has been the contractor of choice for most of the residents in these areas. Ayers Basement Systems,LLC has installed several different basement waterproofing systems as well as crawl space encapsulation systems there. Ayers Basement Systems,LLC now offers a package for encapsulating crawl spaces which includes an insulation product called Terra Block. Since premiering this product to their customers, Ayers is continuely having to order more and more of this product. The customers with crawl spaces love this product installed with the greenspace and drainage matting as a package. Now they can insulate the walls and floor for all their customers that want to save the most on their heating bills. Ayers is the largest waterproofing contractor in the State of Michigan and they service the whole state.

Recently finished encapsulating a craw space

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:24:02 -0400

Recently Ayers Basement Systems was fortunate to be able to help a homeowner on Long Lake Dr in Kalamazoo, MI. The crawspace encapsulation crew ,with Shane,as the foreman really enjoyed doing this job for these homeowners. Ayers Basement Systems layed over 600 sq ft of drainage matting and covered it with their clean space product. The Clean Space Crawlspace liner is a very tough 20 mil, seven-ply barrier. It consists of three layers of high strength poyethylene film laminated together with two layers of molten polyethylene, with two layers of nylon cord reinforcement sandwiched in between, and is treated with UltraFresh antimicrobial finish to prevent mold growth. The Project Manager, and the crew were very excited to convert their dirty, musty crawlspace into a encapsulated bright white storage area. They also installed a smart sump to help keep the crawlspace dry in the future.

Office Staff have afternoon outing making company wine

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:40:15 -0400

Friday, Sept 28, 2009 Ayers Basement Systems, LLC office staff traveled to Ithica, MI to Hometown Cellars Winery. While there the ladies did a taste test on several wines and came to a decision that they would like to make a wine called " Little Italy".

It is a deply colored,rich,red wine with flavors of blackberry and black pepper. It is full-bodied with moderate tannins and blancing acidity. The ladies made 60 bottle of wine while there, it is now fermenting for several weeks and then they will go back and bottle the wine. They have created a label for their new wine and have named it "Breaktime". These bottle of wine will be given away at events as gifts. Everyone had a great time and actully learned alot about wine making too. Pictures coming at a later date.

Moving and Expanding

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:17:08 -0400

Ayers Basement Systems, LLC announces a move to a new building and expansion of the company. Ayers Basement Systems, LLC has purchased 2505 S. Waverly Hwy, Lansing , MI 48911. The intended move date is Nov. 1, 2009. Due to their continuous growth, Ayers Basement Systems has been able to hire many new employees over the last several years. Causing them to out grow their present location near Charlotte, MI Ayers Basement Systems, LLC has added many new basement waterproofing and crawspace encapsulation crews. They now employee 15 salesmen located across the state as well as a Sales Manager. Founder, Virgil Ayers, states Ayers Basement Systems, LLC is a product of very hard work, dedication and positive attitudes combined with great employees. It all equals growth and productivity. Ayers Basement Systems, LLC is so excited that in today's economy they are adding to their employee roster, not laying off personnel. One of Ayers Basement Systems, LLC,most important objectives is to keep all their employees working and supporting their families. They will announce an open house for their new location to be held next July. As Ayers Basement Systems,LLC is a year around drop off point for the Toys for Tots campaign, the open house will be held as a "Christmas in July" celebration. Every one attending will be asked to contribute a toy for the Toys for Tots campaign.