Before & After Photos

Most people would look at these pictures and think it was rust or clay coming out of the pipe. I know that's what I thought when I first encountered this problem many years ago. What you are looking at is actually a kind of bacteria in the ground water. It is called iron ochre and gets mistaken for clay all the time. The reason is that it will build up and clog pipes. When this happens the pipes look like they are filled with clay. This homeowner first called because of a leaky basement. He thought that his old waterproofing system was clogged with clay. The first thing that needed to happen was to get a smooth pipe into the sump. The old pipe has ridges and they act like building blocks for the bacteria to build on, this is what clogged the pipes in the first place. A smooth pipe is less likely to clog, and much easier to clean out.

Even if you have a brand new house the basement windows can leak. The problem is that most home builders will install a basement window the same way as a window upstairs. The windows on the side of your home probably don't leak, and that's because gravity and the siding will guide the rain to the ground. Basement windows don't have room under them to let the rain water escape. Older homes will have a much worse problem because of the old single pane glass and rusty metal frames. The dark lines are evidence of a major leak. DryZone installs custom-made basement windows that are sealed and look amazing in Delaware and Maryland homes. They have thick glass and are double paned to make them more energy efficient.

Sump pumps in the basement are necessary to get the water out. DryZone uses a sealed system to keep the water from evaporating into the air. This helps to keep the humidity down and the smelly basement syndrome at bay. Another big part of drying out a basement is a perimeter drainage system which is the grey baseboard thing in this picture. This particular system is an above ground drainage system known as DryTrak.

Many homes across Delmarva have an old pit and a sump pump in the basement. Sometimes it's even just a plastic bucket with several holes drilled in it. DryZone knows that sump pumps are more than just an open hole and a cheap pump. We use high quality Zoeller pumps and the container is sealed at the top. No humidity will come up out of the lid. The lid also keeps the entire unit quiet, most homeowners can't even tell when it's working.

One of the things that the DryZone crew does during a WaterGuard installation is drill weep holes in the concrete blocks. All along the bottom of a block wall the ground water sits in the hollow blocks and slowly seeps out. This is a big reason why basements leak. The WaterGuard system is designed to relieve pressure and keep the water flowing in the pipes rather than all over the basement floor. In addition, there are clean out ports at various spots in the system. These ports allow you to see the inside of the pipe and clean it out if the need arises.