Before & After Photos

Basements, even partially finished ones, need to be protected from water problems. This Columbia, South Carolina basement in particular would experience water trickling into it periodically. This wouldn’t be a huge problem if the owners weren’t using the space for storage, which, of course, they were. The owners wanted a system that would both capture the water and remove it from the space entirely.

The perfect solution was to install our patented SuperSump pump and WaterGuard drain system. The WaterGuard collects the water out of sight and then deposits it into the SuperSump pump. Both systems are installed below the floor and then covered with cement. Only the lid and the pipes are visible on the SuperSump.

The installation of these products will insure that the basement no longer suffers from leaking water.

Sump pumps are an important part of the majority of the systems that we install. Sump pumps are important because they are how the water actually gets pumped outside and away from the home. There are several different ways to install sump pumps, but we find that the sump systems that we use are the best!

The first photo shows off the sump pump set-up that the homeowner had before our company had come out. While they were definitely ahead of the game by actually having a sump pump, there were still many things that needed to be improved upon. Having an open sump liner allows for moisture to escape and get back into the basement. 

The "after" photo shows our SuperSump pump system with our UltraSump Battery back-up. Our sump system includes an airtight lid with a WaterWatch Alarm, which helps to alert the homeowner if the pumps are not turning on or if there is water on top of the lid. This homeowner also decided to have an UltraSump installed, which provides a battery back-up in case of a power outage. They loved their new sump system and basement waterproofing! 

Our customer in Columbia, SC owns a business that needed some restoration, but the basement had an issue with water intrusion when it rained, so the business owner had to fix the water problem before any restoration work was started.

In the "before" picture you may not notice any issues, but when we arrived to give the customer a free estimate it was not raining that day, but the customer informed us that when it rained heavily the water would come in through floor consistently.

The best resolution for this customer was installing a WaterGuard System and Sump pump. The WaterGuard system is a piping system that intercepts water at the perimeter of the basement and the sump pump keeps the water pumped out of the basement. Some may ask why we use these interior systems rather than exterior french drains? Simply put, time and cost. To install an exterior drain around the perimeter of your home, basement waterproofing contractors will first need to excavate the area around your foundation with a backhoe. Before this can be accomplished, anything around the perimeter must be removed- including porches, shrubbery, gardens, sidewalks, steps, part of the driveway, and anything else that may be sitting near the foundation. The WaterGuard system is installed indoors with little or no prep-work by the customer.

The "after" picture shows the same basement with WaterGuard and the Sump Pump installed. Notice the wet concrete around the perimeter. The All-Dry of the Carolinas crew has broken up the concrete, installed the WaterGuard piping, and replaced the concrete. The WaterGaurd is under the concrete, so no square footage is lost and the customer does not need to worry about accidently damaging the WaterGuard!

Mold and mildew can be a pretty serious issue, especially when under a home. Due to the Stack Effect, up to 50% of the air on the first floor of a home can be air from the basement or crawlspace. This means that any harmful allergens, such as mold particles can be constantly circulating throughout your home. 

This happened to be the case with this home in Columbia, South Carolina. This crawlspace was very low to the ground which made traversing and inspecting the area much more difficult. However when our System Design Specialist went under the home, he found high humidity levels throughout the crawlspace. In some area, on the floor joists, there was even mold growing. 

After learning about these issues, which they suspected, the homeowners decided have the work done that was quoted by our Specialist. This included drainage matting, 3-inch drain tile, CleanSpace, a TripleSafe sump pump system, and a dehumidifier. All of these products work together to ensure that water stays out of the crawlspace and the humidity levels stay below the point where mold can grow. The difference between the crawlspace before and after our crew installed our system is incredible!

This basement was in pretty rough shape overall, but their sump pump definitely needed an upgrade. This is a pretty traditional, although outdated, way to install a sump pump inside a home. The first photo is, of course, the old sump pump that was in the home before we were able to come in and upgrade the system. The second photo shows the sump pump installation in progress.

This is an open-air container that hopes to collect any water that flows down to it, but has no real drainage to it. Once the water gets to a certain level, the pump turns on and removes the water. However, while waiting for the water to get to that level, the water is evaporating and getting into the air, and eventually will start to get into the drywall and anything else that is porous. This is extremely unhealthy, which was why the homeowner decided to go with our new SuperSump pump system.

The new sump pump is much better and more effective than the owner's old one. First off, it is completely sealed, meaning that once the water is inside the sump basin, it won't be evaporating into the basement. Another extremely important factor is that there is drainage that runs to the sump pump. Rather than just sit in the room, letting water slowly drain over the floor, the sump is connecting to WaterGuard which goes around the perimeter of the basement. This means that the water is not even getting a chance to be in the basement, it is immediately being picked up by the WaterGuard to drained down to the sump pump.