A wet basement is almost always a foundation that lost its waterproofing, or never had it done right. Detroit Concrete excavates to the footing, restores the membrane, replaces or upgrades weeping tile, and backfills with proper drainage stone so the wall sheds water for decades. We waterproof new pours before backfill and retrofit existing foundations that are letting water in. Every job starts with a free written estimate.
Waterproofing has to be on the outside of the foundation, where the water is, not on the inside where the leak shows. Interior sealers and paints slow the symptom but the wall behind them is still saturated; the freeze-thaw cycle keeps working it apart while the homeowner thinks the problem is solved.
Done right, foundation waterproofing means excavating to the footing, cleaning the wall, applying a membrane that bonds and stays bonded, adding drainage board, replacing the weeping tile and backfilling with stone that lets groundwater move down to the tile instead of standing against the wall.
The same approach goes on every new pour before backfill, and on every retrofit where a basement has started leaking. It is the standard finish on all our foundation services, and it is what keeps the basement inside the foundation usable. Pair it with crack repair on the wall itself when needed.
Recent work
How it works
How We Waterproof a Foundation in Detroit
Locate where water enters
We pinpoint the wall sections that are wet inside, check grade and downspouts above, and confirm whether weeping tile is failing or never existed, so the fix targets the real cause.
Excavate the affected wall
We excavate down to the footing on the wall sections that need work, expose the foundation, clean off old coatings and any failing waterproofing, and inspect the wall before the new system goes on.
Apply membrane to spec
A bonded membrane goes on the cleaned wall from footing to grade, drainage board covers it, and the wall is allowed to set up before any stone goes back against it.
Restore drainage and backfill
New weeping tile is bedded in clean stone at the footing, the trench is backfilled with drainage stone over the tile, the upper grade is restored, and downspouts are extended away from the wall.
From symptom to solution
Interior Patches Don't Fix a Wet Basement
We get called regularly to basements that have already had interior sealer applied once or twice. The paint flakes, the efflorescence comes back, and the wall is still wet. The water is still on the outside of the foundation, pressing against the wall, and the membrane there is not working.
Pairing exterior waterproofing with foundation repair where the wall has cracked or moved is the only fix that actually keeps water out for the long term, and it is what we install on every finished basement we hand back to a homeowner.
Interior vs exterior, weeping tile, retrofit work and what waterproofing actually keeps out.
Because the water is on the outside of the wall. Interior sealer paints over the symptom; the foundation behind it is still saturated and still freezing and thawing, which keeps working the wall apart. Exterior waterproofing stops the water from ever reaching the wall.
On almost every job, yes. If we are excavated down to the footing for waterproofing, replacing or installing weeping tile then is the right call. Bedding it in clean stone and tying it to the drainage system finishes the system.
Yes, if the leak is localised to one wall or one corner, we can excavate and waterproof that section only. We will be honest in the assessment about whether the rest of the wall is likely to fail next.
It seals over them from the outside, but a structural crack still needs crack repair on its own. The two services often go together, and we sequence them so the crack is properly addressed before the membrane covers it.
A properly installed exterior membrane with drainage board and new weeping tile is a decades-long fix. We use the same systems on new installations that are designed for the full life of the building.
Homeowner reviews
What Detroit Homeowners Say About Their Waterproofing Jobs
Two interior sealer jobs failed before we called Detroit Concrete. They went to the outside, did it right, and the basement has been dry through two springs since.
B. G.
Detroit
★★★★★
Excavated one wall, replaced the weeping tile, put on a proper membrane, restored the landscaping cleanly. Wall is dry, yard looks like nothing happened.
J. P.
Warren
★★★★★
Honest that the leak was just one corner and we did not need to do the whole foundation. Saved us a lot. Corner has stayed dry through the rain we had since.
E. L.
Ann Arbor
★★★★★
Big excavation, big mess on day one, but they put the yard back together by the end and the basement is bone dry. Worth doing once and properly.
O. N.
Sterling Heights
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Tell us where the basement is getting wet, when it started, what has been tried before, and we will assess the foundation free and put any waterproofing work into a written quote.
