US 5,845,456 A · Basement waterproofing

Abstract

A drain conduit is disposed contiguous with and sealed to a footer which supports a foundation wall. The conduit is an upwardly open, impervious trough having an openwork cover. Any water leaking through the foundation wall or between the wall and the footer is captured by the drain conduit so that it does not enter the subsoil and weaken the support for the footer. Where the foundation wall has a crack opening onto its inner surface, it is enlarged and then covered by a moisture barrier film strip and a fiberglass panel, both of which are secured to the wall. Leakage water, through the crack, is thus channelized and directed towards the juncture between the inner surface of the wall and the upper surface of the footer for flow into the drain conduit. The panel terminates above the footer and film strip is extended across the footer and overlies the drain conduit. Where the foundation wall is formed of concrete blocks, holes are formed in the lower course of the blocks to drain their interiors onto the footer. Where there is a leakage flow path underneath the footer, the drain conduit is disposed beneath its lower surface.

Claims9

Dependent claims

A method of waterproofing a basement comprising

a foundation wall having portions defining the basement area,
a footer which supports the wall and
a floor which spans the basement area and is spaced above the footer,
said method comprising the steps of
removing a portion of the floor marginally of a wall portion where there is water leakage,
excavating the soil and any gravel beneath the removed portion of the floor to a depth sufficient to expose the footer,
installing a drain conduit marginally of the inner surface of the footer,
said drain conduit comprising an impervious trough and an openwork cover therefor, the edge of the drain conduit adjacent the footer being contiguous with the vertical plane of the inner surface of the footer and with the upper surface of the trough being no higher than the level of the upper surface of the footer,
connecting the drain conduit to means for disposing leakage water from the basement,
then filling said excavation with gravel having a size greater than the openings in said openwork cover, and
pouring concrete over the gravel filled excavation to form a patch replacement for the removed portion of the floor.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Basement waterproofing

Life of this patent

Basement waterproofing

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims9