Photo Album: Waterproofing under the sunken living room in Ancaster, On
Mary in Ancaster has a lot of water under her floor and it is making her walls damp. One of the challenges with this home was that she had a sunken living room and the floor joists were not sitting on the foundation wall. This is sometimes referred to as a balloon foundation style. The floor joists instead were supported by studs on the floor. The supporting studs were damp from the moisture and needed to be replaced and the perimeter wall needed to be waterproofed. Omni Basement Systems came up with a plan to first support the floor with house jacks and "I" beam a short distance from the wall so that the perimeter floor could be opened up for waterproofing, then permanent Smartjacks from Supportworks along with the Smartbeam could be added to the footing to support the floor. The Smartjacks and Smartbeam are fully galvanized to prevent rust. This is especially important given how much water is presented under the floor.
Wood studs supporting floor
In this construction style, there is no forethought as to what would happen if the basement leaks.
Temporary jacks installed
To support the joists while waterproofing, temporary supports are installed.
Smartjacks and Smartbeam added to footing
Once the temporary supports are in place, the floor is opened up and the permanent jacks are put into place.
Drainage system is added
gravel and the drainage system is added to the trench
Finished system
Once everything is in place, the floor is re-concreted
Adjutsable connections
The Smartjack features large adjustment nuts to fine-tune the level.
