Climate change means an increasing likelihood that large areas of the UK are at risk of flooding. It seems that no matter what time of year it is, somebody somewhere is suffering from the unwanted ingress of flood water into their property.

There are a whole host of reasons why extra stress can build up on basements and cause them to fail. Extreme wet weather conditions means that structures have to cope with extra water pressure. Water will always take the path of least resistance to enter a building. This means that it will try to exploit any weak points in the walls, and ground water pressure will build up against a basement as the water table rises until it finds a defect and flows into the structure.

Investigating failed basements is, sadly, a significant proportion of our work. Basement leaks and flooding is usually due to poorly specified and badly installed waterproofing systems. These have usually not been designed in accordance with BS8102:2009. It’s an incredibly stressful time for the home or business owners affected. It’s our aim to use our extensive experience to survey, repair and redesign the systems in the shortest possible time so that you can start using the space again as it was originally intended.

We are often directly commissioned by insurance companies to investigate failed basements, but we cannot stress enough to our clients, whether designers, builders or homeowners, that the installers of a waterproofing system should be qualified specialists.

Stonehouse have been designing and installing basement waterproofing since 2000, and our years of experience over thousands of installations have allowed us to compare the strengths and weaknesses of a wide variety of individual systems and suppliers. We use a range of manufacturers who are technically innovative and value our feedback in the ongoing process of improving their products.

We are also fully accredited members of the PCA (Property Care Association) and the BSWA (British Structural and Waterproofing Association) and importantly all our works can be insurance backed by the GPI. We are experienced at working alongside consultants and leading technical figures in the industry to resolve disputes and agree solutions to some of the most complicated of basement failures.

Take a look at our case studies to get an overview of the kinds of failed basement remedial waterproofing projects we’ve completed in the past. Then contact us to discover how we can help you