Alto, MI Professional Foundation Repair and Basement Waterproofing

Our customers, Steve and Deanna called us with some bad news...their finished basement developed a water leak.  This leak was coming from one of the basement walls.  Leakage in walls is very common, cement and concrete tends to easily crack due to factors such as humidity and freezing.  Luckily, with the help of a product called Flexispan, we are able to eliminate leakage, as well as prevent future leakage.  Flexispan is able to not only provide a fix to the current leaking, but also prevents future leaking by creating a water well at the bottom of the wall that is able to drain water.  

A homeowner from Alto, Michigan called in regards to their basement wall. They noticed that it was beginning to fail. So we drove over to their home to check it out for ourselves and figured that the best thing to do would be to install our wall anchor system. We install these by digging a tiny hole in that are a few feet away from the home. Ten we drill a steel rod through a 1 inch hole in the basement wall. Then, the rod connects to an anchor that is placed in the hole of the soil. Once we place the plates on afterwards, we have permanently stabilized the basement. So now the homeowner doesn't have to worry about an unsafe basement ever again.

This Alto, MI home was in need of an effective wall stabilization system. The brick wall along side of the garage was attached to a cement foundation wall, although a large opening formed above the brick portion and was beginning to lean and detach from the foundation wall.

We used the Geo-Lock wall anchor system to completely stabilize and anchor the wall in place. We installed heavy-duty earth anchors in the soil outside of the wall and then connected them to the failing wall with specialized wall anchors. The anchors were secured into place with steel rods and tightened to prevent the wall from leaning or shifting any further.

This Alto, MI home had a section between the house and garage that was settling. The homeowner was noticing signs of foundation settling before calling us, so he knew the problem needed to be addressed before it got any worse.

Thankfully, the PolyLevel system provided the home with much needed security. Several holes were drilled into the concrete and were then filled with specialize polymers that expanded to push the slab back up to its original position. The polymers were light enough to keep excess weight off of the weak soil below the slab and dense enough to ensure the weight of the concrete slab was stable.

These homeowners had a musty crawl space with a stone wall base and sand floor that was allowing water vapor to easily enter. There was direct access to the space from a closet located in the home, which is where the musty smell was first found.

In order to seal the space off from the outside environment we installed the CleanSpace liner to fully encapsulate the walls and floors and vent covers to prevent outside elements from occupying the area. The durable, white liner was cut to fit the floor and walls of the space and then securely attached to the walls to prevent it from falling down. The liner is waterproof and vapor proof to prevent any type of moisture from entering and its durable material prevents it from damage with use over time.

CleanSpace vent covers were also installed on this home to create an airtight seal and prevent any outside air, water or moisture from making its way into the crawl space.

When concrete begins to settle people tend to do the opposite. Seeing your foundation sink away isn’t exactly a comforting feeling. That’s why David called us. He noticed several signs of a sinking foundation at his Alto, MI home, and knowing that the Ayers crew are PolyLevel experts, he couldn’t think of a better place to contact. Unfortunately for David, he called us in the winter, a “PolyLevel downtime”. The ground needs to be relatively warm for a proper injection, so the installment was postponed until after Spring began.

When warmer weather finally rolled in, the crew set out to give David the lift he needed. PolyLevel was injected below the driveway without the need for an invasive digging. The foam was pumped in and filled the voids where the weight of concrete had been too much for soil to handle. The foam is waterproof without being harmful to soil or environment. PolyLevel was able to return David’s driveway slabs to their original position in a matter of minutes.

If you would like to learn more about how PolyLevel works or if you think it could help your home, then give us a call.

Leslie was worried about her in-law’s home. For some reason, their unfinished basement had fallen victim to water seepage from heavy rainfall. There were large puddles on the ground, which she thought was strange since there was already a sump pump system installed. While she didn’t see any signs of mold, there was no escaping the musty smell or the damp feeling of the basement. Something needed to be done for the sake of her family, so she called us.

The Ayers team wanted to make sure that flooding wouldn’t be a problem in this basement again, so they covered all the likely problem areas. When water leaks into a basement, it tends to puddle on the floor near the floor and wall joint. To give that water somewhere to go, the team installed a WaterGuard perimeter drainage system. The system will collect any water that leaks down the walls or puddles on the floor. Another common place for leaks is the water heater. Preventing Leslie’s water heater from adding to the puddles was as easy as surrounding the heater with a ring. We call that ring a FloodRing. It is installed into the foundation and connected to the WaterGuard system. This way any water that leaks from the heater flows directly into the perimeter drainage system. The system will then be pumped clean by the new Super Sump, a more reliable alternative to Leslie’s current sump. The discharge lines from the sump will carry that water outside to the LawnScape outlet, and pass the IceGuard shield on its way (an alternative escape for when the line freezes over). Lastly, the team rid the basement of that damp feeling and musty smell. The SaniDry XP is an extremely energy efficient dehumidifier that empties directly into the drainage system. Even though the basement isn’t finished, it deserves to be tolerable.

Hat’s off to Leslie to for stepping in and taking care of this Alto, MI basement. It’s always nice to see someone helping out in-laws instead of complaining about them.