Fix Your Drainage!

The best way to prevent major water damage costs for your home: Fix your drainage! 

Improper drainage leads to gradual foundation damage.  You can go for years and barely notice a problem.  Then you reach a tipping point, and foundation damage can be a costly nightmare.

Foundation drainage problems can result from too much moisture.  Standing water around your home, large amounts of water dumped by gutter downspouts, or a negative slope of the area around your home can cause saturated soil, which seeps into, and eventually erodes, your foundation.

Do you see excessive puddling or ponding around your home after a heavy rain?  Do your basement walls dribble water?  Do you have small yet slowly growing cracks in your basement walls?  All of the above questions are warning signs of foundation issues.

Celebrate. Honor. Remember.

On Memorial Day we can celebrate our freedom and remember those who have served, so bravely and selflessly, our wonderful country.

All we can say is we thank you.  We honor you.  We never forget your service and sacrifice.

Creating a Precision Pitch

Efficient use of a drain tile system is an excellent approach to supplement the benefits of proper grading.  A 4" drain tile backfilled with Limestone chips will absorb seepage under the center of a swale or other appropriate areas.  Considering these pipes may freeze in typical Wisconsin winter, they should be used as a secondary drainage solution.

By using precision tools, we ensure 100% accuracy during the design and implementation of an efficient drainage system.  Integrity Drainage Solutions are drainage experts who get it right the first time!

Spring Tips for Exterior Drainage

At this time of year, during the Winter thaw and the Spring rains to come, it is very important to check a few items around your home. 

 

Make sure gutters and downspouts are attached properly to the home.  Tighten any loose gutters and reconnect any unattached downspouts to help keep water away from the house.  It is imperative that gutters and downspouts are clear and free-flowing.

If there is standing water against the home's foundation, eventually it could find its way into your home.  Have a drainage professional re-grade around your home’s foundation.  Creating a positive and lasting pitch away from the home is important.  It is a gradual pitch that an exterior drainage specialist can measure for you.  It is never recommended to landscape around the home’s foundation without a proper pitch and grade.

Spring Thaw...Choose to Enjoy It or Dread It.

Winter in Wisconsin brings a lot of snow.  In early March, when the thaw begins, the sound of water draining from the gutters is a welcome sound of Spring for some homeowners.  For others it is followed by the dreaded sound of a sump pump running...and running...and running.  If the sump pump cannot keep up, water backup can occur.  Often this is mistakenly diagnosed as an interior water issue.  However, it is also likely to be an exterior drainage issue.  Integrity Drainage Solutions specializes in moving water away from your home's exterior foundation.  Ensuring a positive pitch away from the home's foundation is key.  This can be accomplished in many ways, from a swale to a drain tile system. 

Redirecting water away from your home and yard can turn the Spring thaw into an exciting experience in the anticipation of enjoying your yard all Summer long.

      

Downspout Extensions

The goal of your gutter/downspout system is to deliver water from the large roof area away from the foundation of your home. To aid in this goal, we recommend buried downspout extensions on all downspouts.

We use a High-density polyethylene (HDPE) which is a very strong and corrosion-resistant piping.

Hydrostatic Pressure: A Hazard of Improper Drainage

A negative pitch of the grade around the exterior of your home's foundation provides a direct path for water toward the home.  This adds harmful hydrostatic pressure and can void home warranties.  The foundation may show signs of hydrostatic pressure by having cracks on the interior walls.  Structural foundation damage are problems that occur in homes with improper drainage.
 

Our Mission

Our mission statement: To offer practical solutions to a variety of drainage problems using a precise and technical approach. Our goal is to educate and help our customers prevent future damage to their home and to enjoy their property more.

It's Freezing!

It's cold out!  Things will freeze.  Be aware of some items on the exterior of your home that could be potential problems.

Ice dams occur when snow collects on your roof and a cycle of melting and refreezing occurs.  This can cause a lot of water damage inside your home.  Keep gutters clear as best you can.

Sump pump discharge pipes cannot freeze.  Backup of the sump pump can cause flooding into the basement and also burn out your pump motor.  Check this every few days to be sure that your water is running out and away from the home's foundation.  Sometimes burying this pipe and routing it away from the home's foundation is a good option.

Keeping window wells as clear as possible will help with keeping water out of your basement as well.  Covers over the window wells in the winter is not a bad idea to keep water from leaking through the windows.

   

Merry Christmas to All!

Integrity Drainage Solutions wishes you all a very, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We look forward to the thaw of 2015 and helping our customers with their drainage needs.

Drainage: Priority Number One.

Proper drainage means that water is always moving away from your home's foundation. 

At Integrity Drainage Solutions, we always consider possible grade changes when making landscaping improvements to be sure we direct water away from the home. 

During the building process, a new homeowner should be very attentive to ensure that all contractors involved are mindful of the grading and the drainage. 

Integrity Drainage Solutions works with you so you have a clear understanding of how your property's drainage system will work.

A Bit About Window Wells

Window wells are necessary when basement windows are fully or partially below the grade of your home.  

Some of the problems a homeowner may encounter include: clogging, poor drainage and old age.  This can cause foundational problems and water in your basement.  

One of the best things you yourself can do to protect against these situations is to take a walk around your house on a regular basis and clean out the window wells.  Wear gloves!  Window wells tend to collect all sorts of unappealing goodies such as leaves, garbage, and even animals that cannot escape. 

 

Ideally, the bottom of the window well should contain nothing but several inches of gravel to allow water to drain from the well.

 

If you are experiencing poor drainage issues, it is best to ask an expert to check your window wells and the pitch around your home to ensure proper drainage is happening.  

Drain Tiles

An efficient use of a drain tile system is an excellent approach to supplement the benefits of proper grading.  A 4" perforated drain tile backfilled with limestone chips will absorb seepage (underground water) under the center of the swale or other appropriate areas.  Considering these pipes may freeze in a typical Wisconsin winter, they should be used as a secondary drainage solution.

Good and Proper Drainage is Good and Proper for Your Home

There is a wide variety of exterior drainage problems that affect 60% of all homeowners.  The severity of these problems may be seasonal or develop over time. 

Typically, homeowners can go for years before they realize they have a persistent problem. 

These drainage issues will continue to get worse as water settles home features such as lawn areas, patios, driveways, and very importantly, your home's foundation.  Hydrostatic pressure (pictured below) is a beast! 

If caught early, the heavy damage and heavy expense is preventable.

New Office, New Yard - Part 4

Our new sign is finished and our building is getting a new paint job.  It's a great look!  For the sign, we used Olde Quarry Stone with a Copthorne inlay.  This is a great representation of the style of work we do.  Once again, there is more to come.  Our yard is going to be a stunning showroom of all the types of projects we are capable of doing.  Stay tuned...

Property Improvement - South Property Line Drainage

We are working to improve the look and the drainage on our South property line. 

We’re installing catch basins between the newly planted Arborvitaes and then trenching a drainage pipe along the backside of the tree line all the way to the street.  This is to improve the environment for the Arborvitae, as they cannot survive in extremely wet conditions.  This also improves the drainage situation for our South neighbor, who was periodically experiencing basement water.

Arborvitae is a popular evergreen choice for hedges because of its tall, narrow growth habit. Arborvitae grows best in full sun, but will tolerate light shade and prefer fertile, moist, well-drained soil.