Serving Dearborn
Groundwater & Basement Water Intrusion in Dearborn, MI
Basement seepage, failed sumps, and hydrostatic pressure against the foundation are extracted and dried, and the path from the ground is identified so the loss does not repeat. Groundwater and basement seepage are extracted and dried only after the path from the soil is identified — a wall, a slab, a drain, or a failed sump. Drying the interior without stopping that path returns the same water to the same floor.
Frequently asked questions
The rainfall was nothing special and the basement still backed up.
The rainfall total is not what determines this. The combined sewer here carries sanitary and storm flow in one pipe and was sized for a landscape with far less pavement than exists now, so a moderate cell can surcharge it. When it does, the lowest connected opening becomes the relief point, and that is usually a basement floor drain. Nothing inside your house has to fail for this to happen.
Our contractor pulled the equipment and the basement smells again.
In brick housing that usually means the masonry was still wet when the framing readings met target. Solid brick absorbs a great deal of water and gives it back slowly, so it can keep releasing moisture into the room for a week or more after the wood is dry. Readings need to be taken in the masonry itself, not only in the framing, and the schedule in this stock is genuinely longer than in a frame house.
Is it worth having the building sewer inspected?
Yes, and it is inexpensive relative to the alternative. Building sewers of this era are clay or early cast iron, and after seventy years root intrusion and joint separation are the norm rather than the exception. A partially blocked line makes every surcharge event worse, because the drainage that would otherwise clear the basement is slowed. A camera inspection tells you whether the public sewer is the only problem or one of two.
This FAQ belongs to the Dearborn page; it is repeated here.