Basement Development
Basement Moisture & Waterproofing in Calgary
Almost every basement waterproofing quote we've read starts with the fix. Nobody had figured out where the water was actually getting in.
We visit your home, then you get a written price and a start date.
Regrading the yard, adding downspout extensions and fixing window wells are the cheapest work, and they solve most of the wet basements we're called to look at. Work inside the house — injecting cracks, adding an interior drainage channel, installing a sump pump — costs more and is priced based on what the checkup actually finds.
Digging up the yard to add a new waterproof membrane and drainage pipe along the foundation is the most expensive option, and it's only the right answer in a minority of cases. The price depends on how long and deep the wall is and what shape the existing drainage pipe is in. We quote the checkup first and the work after, and we tell you plainly which category your house falls into.
What's involved
Find it, fix the cheap causes, then build only what's left.
Doing things in the right order matters more than which products we use. Skip a step and you can end up paying for a full dig-up that a downspout would have fixed.
- 01Moisture readings across the floor and walls
- 02Checking the yard's slope and drainage
- 03Downspout and gutter discharge points
- 04Window well depth and drainage
- 05Mapping and tracking any cracks
- 06Checking the drainage pipe and sump pump
- 07Interior drainage or crack injection where needed
- 08Digging up the yard and adding new drainage where needed
- 09Sump pump and its discharge line
What we check that others don't
What we check that others don't.
- §1
Where the water is actually getting in, before anyone quotes a fix. Water coming in where the wall meets the floor, through a crack, over the top of the foundation, or up through the floor slab are four different problems with four different fixes. We map the staining, take readings and, if it isn't obvious, we watch the basement during a rainstorm instead of guessing.
- §2
The cheap causes first — grading, downspouts and window wells. Ground that has settled back toward the house, a downspout draining two feet from the wall, or a window well with no drainage underneath it causes most of the wet basements in this city. These fixes cost hundreds of dollars, not tens of thousands, and we tell you when that's the whole answer.
- §3
Whether a crack is just a leak or a sign of a structural problem. A vertical crack that weeps water in spring is usually just a sealing job. A stepped or horizontal crack, or one that has shifted, is a sign of soil pressure and settlement, and sealing it without understanding why just pushes the water somewhere else.
- §4
Whether the drainage pipe and sump pump are still working. Older drainage pipe around the foundation clogs up with silt and stops draining, and a sump pit that stays dry in a wet basement means water isn't reaching it. We check the pit, the pump, the float switch and the discharge line, and we make sure the discharge point is far enough from the house that the water doesn't just come back.
- §5
Whether work inside the house or digging up the yard is really needed. Interior systems manage water that has already gotten in; digging up the yard keeps it out in the first place. Digging up the yard is the right call when the wall itself is failing or the drainage pipe is gone, and it's a very expensive answer to what might just be a downspout problem. You get our honest read, in plain terms, with the cost of each option.
How long it takes
One day to two weeks, depending on the work.
The checkup takes one visit, and if the source isn't clear we wait for a rainstorm before committing to a fix. Grading, downspouts and window wells are usually a one- to two-day job. Injecting a crack takes a morning.
Interior drainage and a sump pump take three to five days. Digging up one wall to add a new membrane and drainage pipe takes one to two weeks and depends on the weather and on what we find once we start digging.
The expensive mistake
Finishing a basement over a moisture problem that hasn't been fixed.
This is the most expensive mistake on this list, and it's common because finishing the space is the fun part. Insulation and drywall over a wall that still gets wet hide the problem for a season or two, then turn it into a mould cleanup that tears the new room back out again.
If you're planning to finish your basement, deal with the water first and build over a dry floor. We'd rather fix the drainage this year and do the renovation next than do both at once and guarantee a room we already knew was at risk.
We put it in writing.
- A fixed price
- agreed before we start, and it doesn't move unless you change the scope.
- A completion date
- in the contract, not a range, not a best guess.
- A workmanship warranty
- if it fails because of how we installed it, we fix it. No argument, no invoice.
Most renovation guarantees are a paragraph of conditions. Ours is three commitments you can hold us to.
Questions people ask before they book.
- In most Calgary basements, neither — grading, downspout extensions and window well repair solve most of the cases McAra Design + Build sees. Interior systems manage water that's already coming in; digging up the yard keeps it out entirely, and that's only needed when the wall is failing or the drainage pipe has collapsed. We figure out the real source before recommending either one.
- It's a problem for anything built over it. Spring water is usually melting snow pooling against settled ground or a window well with no drainage, and McAra Design + Build treats both as cheap fixes. Left alone under new insulation and drywall, that seasonal moisture turns into a mould cleanup instead of a grading job.
- Thin vertical cracks that weep occasionally are common in Calgary and usually just need sealing. Stepped, horizontal or widening cracks are a sign the foundation has moved, and McAra Design + Build gets those looked at properly before sealing anything. We tell you which type your crack is and don't sell you an engineer's report you don't need.
Where this sits
This work is part of Basement Development.
People looking at this page usually look at Legal Basement Suites and Basement Bathrooms in the same conversation.
Get a free in-home quote.
We visit your home, then you get a written price and a start date.
What are you planning?
Or call Chris directly: +1 (587) 837-3113