Foundation Repair Photo Album: Waterproofing and Stabilizing a Lansing,MI Basement

Note how far a section of the wall on the left side of this photo is leaning. Bowing walls are dangerous and can collapse, leaving your home in danger.

Both horizontal and stair step cracks are visible in this section of the bowing wall, which began to bow when tree roots in the ground outside expanded and placed pressure on the wall.

People try many things when their foundation walls develop cracks, from foam crack filler like what's shown here, to bracing 2x4s against the wall. None of these are permanent fixes or true solutions.

The lean of the wall is more noticeable from this angle. Walls can only bow or lean so far before they're in danger of collapse.

The water is so bad in this part of the basement that it's completely worn off large sections of the paint. Peeling and bubbling paint is actually an early sign of water coming through walls.

This small floor drain (there are a few of them throughout the basement) is just not enough to keep up with the amount of water in the basement.

In addition to the water damage on the floor underneath the stairs, the steps themselves show signs of water damage. Wood rot is a real concern in cases like this.

Doorways are often a point of water accumulation.

There's evidence of water coming through the walls and floor throughout the basement.

The sump pump is tied into the WaterGuard system and attached to a discharge line to send the water directly outside.

The PowerBraces are cemented into the ground and bracketed to the joists to provide security to the wall. Over time, they can be tightened to hopefully even straighten the wall.

A special bracket attached the PowerBrace to the joist.

We jackhammer out a perimeter of the floor in order to install the WaterGuard system.

Here, WaterGuard track and a section of TrenchDrain are put in place.

The TrenchDrain system features wide grates for quicker water collection and is tied right into the WaterGuard so the water is sent to the sump pump.

Once everything is in place, we pour new concrete to restore the floor.

The sump pump is ready for any water collected by the WaterGuard system and will evacuate it via the discharge line shown.