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Backfill Restoration
What’s backfill?
After constructing a home, builders push soil, or “backfill,” into the void around the basement or crawlspace. Over time, this backfill settles, creating a negative grade against the foundation.
Downspout water and other surface water saturates these areas and might even pool around the structure during wet weather. In many cases, you can’t see this water until it enters your basement or crawlspace.
The problem is the negative grade against the structure, which was caused by settlement of the backfill. The negative grade leads to an increase in hydrostatic pressure against your foundation – and water damage inside your home.
How backfill restoration helps
- Reduces or completely eliminates hydrostatic pressure around your foundation, a condition that can cause water to enter your home
- Helps prevent wet basements and crawlspaces
- Encourages stormwater to flow away from your home’s foundation
Restoring backfill works wonders
In an effort to relieve hydrostatic pressure, builders typically install a foundation drain beneath backfill. However, these drains provide minimal protection and quickly become obstructed and non-operational. They don’t last long – only 5 to 10 years.
If your home is 7 to 10 years old or you have some form of water entry, you may need to restore the backfill to re-create a positive grade. That way, stormwater can flow away from your home, not toward it. And you won’t have to worry about water entering your basement or crawlspace.
Restructure the Land
Restoring proper backfill conditions is one of the most common land restructuring tactics we apply to keep water out of basements and crawlspaces.
Stormwater Collection & Removal
Backfill restoration often goes hand-in-hand with stormwater collection and removal. Proper backfill provides an additional and necessary layer of security to reduce hydrostatic pressure around your foundation.
