Expert Basement Waterproofing & Foundation Repair Company in Pittsburgh, PA

At Keystone Basement Systems, we know a wet basement is never what it seems. Damp walls are usually caused by foundation cracks or leaky windows. However, other problems, such as basement flooding and floor cracks, can result from multiple factors. So, how do you spot common wet basement problems?

Signs of Common Wet Basement Issues:

• Wall cracks: Wall cracks in basement walls are usually noticeable, especially in unfinished spaces with concrete. However, cracks in a finished basement will be harder to spot. Sometimes, cracks beneath plaster or drywall will reveal themselves by leaving water marks or other signs on the surface. But cracks can only be seen and addressed after removing walls and carpets
• Water marks: Water marks are another obvious sign of water intrusion, as these stains are what is left after water has entered the space and dried, looking blotchy, off-color areas within carpets or plaster surfaces. In an unfinished basement, spots will show similarly, as discoloration in a semi-uniform area on concrete walls and floors.
• Standing water: If your basement has standing water, with or without rain. This may be a reoccurring issue if you have already dealt with basement flooding. Standing water is an obvious sign of wet basement problems and a concerning sight. If your home has problems with standing water in the basement, a waterproofing solution is needed immediately.
• Mold growth: Mold can appear in many different ways on walls and floors. It depends on the type of mold growth happening. Dark, cold, and damp conditions, like in a basement, are the perfect environment for mold and fungi, which can look like black blotches, white or yellow powders, and a variety of other shapes and colors. If checking your basement for mold, you will find it in areas where walls and floors meet, places with water infiltration, beneath carpets, and around window frames.
• Moldy, wood rotten & damaged basement windows: Failing basement windows, especially ones with wooden frames, are vulnerable to wood rot and damage. Moisture can enter the basement through gaps and cracks within the window and frame. Water can also linger on the surface of the wooden frame, causing mold growth, wood rot, and mold discoloration.

Keystone Basement Systems has provided reliable basement waterproofing solutions since 2003. You can have confidence that we can accurately identify your unique problems and recommend a personalized solution to address them. Our professionally-trained crew, patented products, and time-tested expertise ensure a dry, healthy basement that lasts for years to come. Our basement waterproofing system includes sump pumps, perimeter drainage systems, a vapor barrier, wall insulation, and more, permanently addressing wet basements.

Contact Keystone Basement Systems for an expert diagnosis of your wet basement issues and our recommendations to fix them.

While a do-it-yourself attitude is great for many things, when it comes to basement waterproofing, you want to ensure lasting health and value for your home. That is why hiring a professional is the best option. For example, if your home has basement water intrusion during rain, you can install a drainage system and sump pump yourself. But, the process is time-consuming, invasive, requiring specialized equipment and machinery, and can lead to more damage if the problem continues. Basement waterproofing is hard and takes years to master. Plus, you want to have confidence in the quality of your products and know when maintenance is needed, that it will be done correctly.

With Keystone Basement Systems, we will be there every step of the way, with award-winning products and solutions. We handle the setup, installation, and maintenance all in one!

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While basements are more common in Pennsylvania, many homes still have crawl spaces. Both play an important role in the structural integrity of your home since they are vulnerable to damage. When we inspect crawl spaces, water is the number one culprit of problems, whether from flooding, hydrostatic pressure, or poor ventilation. If left to worsen, it can lead to widespread issues.

• Poor ventilation can cause condensation and moisture on crawl space floors, walls, and structural components, weakening the foundation and causing mold.
• Crawl space flooding & water intrusion can cause collapsing crawl space ceilings, sagging floors above the crawl space, wood rot on structural components, mold, pests, and more.

Since crawl spaces are dark, cold, and damp, this creates the perfect environment for mold and pests. A dehumidifier helps eliminate humidity and moisture, ensuring a drier, odorless space and healthier indoor air. We install an industry-leasing Basement Systems dehumidifier specially designed for tight spaces while offering high-performance efficiency.

Water in the crawl space can cause structural damage quickly, leaving wood and concrete elements especially vulnerable since these materials are highly absorbent. Keystone Basement Systems knows how to prevent water damage with top-to-bottom crawl space encapsulation solutions that tackle every aspect of the area, including a dehumidifier and sump pump installation.

What is crawl space encapsulation?

This solution offers a vapor barrier between the home and outdoor elements.

1. With airtight doors and vent covers, we stop the cycle of cold, humidity, and moisture inside the crawl space by blocking outside air.
2. Then, we remove the causes of leaks and standing water with a perimeter drainage system and sump pump installation.
3. We go on to repair any water damage.
4. After, we address moisture that enters through concrete walls and floors by installing a durable crawl space liner around the entire area, keeping moisture out permanently.
5. Finally, the process is complete after installing a dehumidifier.

Now you can enjoy a dry, secure, and safe area free from flooding or moisture intrusion.

Why are crawl space encapsulations necessary?

Crawl space encapsulation ensures the health of your home. They also come with a transferrable, lifetime warranty in the event the home is sold to new owners. So, you can rest easy knowing your property is healthy and protected from structural damage, moisture, mold, foul odors, and water damage in the crawl space for a lifetime!

There are different ways to spot foundation problems, but not all of them are noticeable. Wall cracks, a tilting chimney, and sticking windows and doors are easy to spot. Others may take a trained eye to detect. That is where Keystone Basement Systems can help. Our decades-long experience allows us to assess foundations and accurately identify structural damage to recommend the perfect solution for your unique situation.

Signs of Foundation Problems Include:

• Sticking windows & doors
• A tilting chimney
• Floor, ceiling & wall cracks
• Sinking or settling areas of the home
• Sagging floors above the crawl space
• Water intrusion
• Street creep

The best foundation repair solutions come from accurately identifying structural damage and knowing how to properly address it. Here are some common foundation problems and ways to fix them:

Problem: Foundation Wall Issues

From bowing walls to wall cracks or collapsing retaining walls, there are plenty of wall problems that can happen to the foundation all caused by different reasons. Bowing walls could be the result of hydrostatic pressure pushing on the foundation, which happens when the soil excavated to make room for the foundation is backfilled, causing the low density to affect drainage rates of water. While retaining walls are meant to resist the lateral pressure of soils, they may still move and bow over time as the soil expands and contracts in weight and density from rain, freezing, and other environmental factors.

Wall cracks form when the soil seeps into a porous concrete substrate. As it freezes and thaws with natural season changes, the water expands and contracts, pressuring the concrete. Cracks also form from external soil pressure and settlement.

No matter the cause of structural damage, we have the foundation wall repair solution:

• Bowing walls: GeoLock® Wall Anchors to secure the wall to stable soils further away from the home and prevent further bowing.
• Wall cracks from settling soils: Helical foundation piers drive supporting beams deep into stronger load-bearing soils and prevent further settlement.
• Collapsing retaining walls: Wall anchors and helical tiebacks are used to provide a level of support even greater than the original structure when it was in full health.

Floor Issues

The most common floor issues within a failing foundation are uneven surfaces and floor cracks. Uneven surfaces are usually caused by foundation settlement, caused by weak load-bearing soil that cannot support the weight of the home, compress, and buckle, straining the foundation. Once the foundation is affected, you may notice the home sinking, floor cracks, and sagging floors throughout the house.

Since most floor problems are from weak soils, helical piers are a common solution. We integrate connection joints to your home's foundation and the foundation pier. Then, we guide it into the soil under your home until it reaches an area suited to bear the load of your home. The piers level your home and relieve it of the pressures caused by settling soils. They also protect the home against sinking in the future, making it a permanent solution!

When you have foundation problems, you can trust Keystone Basement Systems for our time-tested expertise, patented tools, and innovative solutions! We are backed by Supportworks, a global network of concrete and foundation repair contractors, allowing members access to continuous training, best practices from the best minds in the industry, and proven products. You can also have confidence in our foundation repair products that come with transferrable, lifetime warranties. Know that once we fix structural damage, your home's value will be protected for a lifetime!

Slabs, such as driveways, pool decks, patios, and sidewalks, are vulnerable to sinking since concrete is a heavy building material and always exerts downward pressure on load-bearing soils. With the right environmental factors, soils will deteriorate, weaken, compress, or erode, leading to sagging and concrete cracks.

High-water weather events can cause erosion and is a common factor in damaged concrete. If there is heavy rain and lots of runoff from a spring thaw, water passages under concrete can weaken the slab. Since concrete requires an equal amount of force across the surface, it will weaken, sink, and crack.

PolyLevel is a simple, cost-effective polymer injection process that lifts and levels sinking slabs back to their original position. Traditional methods, like mudjacking, involve pouring a mortar mixture under the slab to fill the void and lift the concrete. But with PolyLevel, our technicians drill small holes through the concrete, fit an adapter into the hole, and then inject an expanding polymer beneath until it's leveled.

The polymer material only weighs about 4 pounds per cubic ft., compared to the 120 pounds for mudjacking. PolyLevel is also waterproof, stable, and inert, meaning it will not wash away, degrade, or leech harmful chemicals into the soil. Plus, PolyLevel usually cures in 20 minutes, rather than 24 hours with mudjacking.

When home or property owners see sinking, chipping, or cracked concrete around their property, they often wonder if they need concrete repairs or concrete replacement.

Traditional slab repair vs. our concrete repair system:

• Concrete replacement: While replacing concrete may look and function great, the results may not last long since it won't address the underlying cause of the damage. Plus, the process is expensive and time-consuming. So, even with all that time, effort, and money put into your slabs, you'll have the same uneven, chipping, and cracked concrete you were plagued with.
• Mudjacking: You may think concrete repairs are the best bet. However, mudjacking is an invasive process, requiring heavy machinery for excavation, loud and disruptive, takes over 24 hours to cure, and can ultimately fail in the future.
• Patching cracked concrete: You may think concrete repairs are the best bet. But simply patching concrete cracks and damage won't fix the issues causing problems. They will continue to develop issues with natural soil and environmental changes.
• Our concrete repair system: That's where our innovative PolyLevel concrete leveling, NexusPro cracked concrete repair, and SealantPro concrete sealing solutions can help! Here is what you need to know about our concrete repair system:
  • PolyLevel concrete leveling: This polyurethane concrete lifting system stabilizes slabs, ensuring they are as good as new while addressing underlying causes of damage, such as soil washout. The cure time is 15 minutes, compared to 24 hours with mudjacking. Plus, the installation is non-invasive, requiring no heavy machinery. You will enjoy durable, water-proof results!
  • NexusPro cracked concrete repair: This concrete crack repair system installs year round, rain or shine, is not affected by extreme temperatures, is resistant to UV rays to prevent further drying, cracking, and bubbling, and cures in under an hour, compared to other concrete sealants that take 24 to 72 hours.
  • SealantPro concrete sealing: This concrete sealing system extends slabs' lifespans by 3 to 5 times overall in one quick application, protecting them from water, dirt, oil, UV rays, and more to prevent abrasions, staining, and color fading. SealantPro makes ice removal, as it reduces ice bonding. Our system can also be applied to new or freshly repaired concrete and cures in just 6 hours for same-day use!