A backwater valve plays a crucial role in protecting your home from the worst flooding damage you could imagine: sewage. This unsung hero in your plumbing system helps prevent sewer backup, safeguarding your property and valuables. In this guide, we’ll explore what a backwater valve is and how to inspect it to ensure it’s working properly.
As the winter season approaches, homeowners mostly shift their attention from outdoor maintenance to staying cozy indoors. However, you may be surprised to hear this is the ideal time to address a critical aspect of your home’s protection – basement waterproofing. I know, I know, it may not be the most obvious winter project, but there are 4 powerful reasons you should waterproof your basement or crawl space during the colder months. Let’s dive in.
Waterproofing your basement is a vital investment for any home. A leaky basement will lead to problems such as damaged building material, efflorescence on the walls, high humidity, and mould issues. These are big issues because the air that is in your basement is the air you breathe throughout your entire home.
But which method of basement waterproofing is best? Interior or Exterior? We’re going to walk through the pros and cons of each so that you can decide which solution will be best for your home.
A drain tile system is a waterproofing system intended to prevent water from pooling around your home foundation. It is a simple and ingenious way to protect your home from harmful basement flooding. Most homes, even significantly older ones, have a drain tile system installed already from when they were constructed. In most situations, it’s illegal to not have it.
Drain tile sits beneath the foundation of a home on the interior or exterior. It collects water from soil and redirects it either by gravity or electronically through a sump pump to a storm sewer system or safely away from the home. Whether installed on the exterior or interior, drain tile performs the same job, but we’ll explain later on in the post why we think interior drain tile is better.
If your basement window is leaking, there is undoubtedly a problem that needs to be fixed. If you’re reading this, that means you’re taking the first step to fix the problem: getting informed. Nice job!
Now the next step is to take action to solve the problem. We’re going to walk you through the 3 simple steps to fix a leaking window.