If your finishing your basement it should be “like new” and you shouldn’t see any water. Is it right for you to think that way? Well, you can think what you want but it happens a lot of the times when someone finished the basement. We get calls from all over where people finish the basement and then months later they have water coming from behind the sheet rock. In fact, some say they knew that there was a crack in the foundation, but it has never leaked before and they had been in the house for 15 years. Now that they put up the sheet rock it started leaking. Why they can leak when they have not leaked before is because water gets into them and in the winter it freezes opening the crack more and more. So…
Tip #1: Look very carefully at the foundation walls and be sure there are no cracks. Those cracks can be fixed with a warranty all from the inside.
Tip #2: Look very carefully at the concrete again at the little dimples. Those dimples are caused from the tie-rods which hold together the wood forms where the concrete is poured to form the foundation. After the concrete is poured they snap these ties and they are in the concrete. They are supposed to be sealed from the outside, some building inspectors like them sealed from the inside too, but often it is not done. The metal rusts and when it rusts they get smaller and can leak. So my advice would be look at the dimples and see if you see any rust lines or white powder. Those can be sealed with a warranty also. For those that are not rusting, put something on them so air does not reach them.
Tip #3: See if there are any water stains where the wall meets the floor. You want to have those addressed.
For more information on basement crack repair or waterproofing, contact A1 Foundation Crack Repair.