REAL WATERPROOFING!
Serving Minneapolis, Saint Paul and the Metro Area
Serving the Midwest Since 1978!
The roots of Great Lakes Waterproofing started in Chicago in 1959 when the original owner started working in the waterproofing industry. At the time most waterproofing on buildings and homes consisted of digging up the foundation and repairing cracks and holes or just living with the water.
After expansion and movement, the Great Lakes Waterproofing ended up in Grand Rapids Michigan and business greatly expanded with the popularity of finishing basements and using them for social spaces during the late 1970's. With a history of exterior waterproofing, our experience helped develop and refine bentonite injections for waterproofing but we also embraced drain-tile, sump pumps and industrial wall coatings.
Great Lakes Waterproofing is a leader using advanced water detection equipment to help spot problem areas. Our goal is to stop water outside your foundation for Real Waterproofing!
The photo is from our Flir Thermography Camera, one of the leaders of this technology. The darker areas indicate lower temperatures which could be water, The next photo will show us the answer!
This is the baseboard and carpet tack strip from the photo above. The carpeting has been removed to show the wet basment areas including the blackened tack strip and some staining of the trim.
Most wet basements aren't this easy, the signs of where the water is entering might be fully covered. Using advance tools helps us narrow down the exterior points of entry so we can stop the water outside, for Real Waterproofing!
While we continue to use just about every basement waterproofing method, a majority of our work is exterior waterproofing using bentonite products. For most customers the reason is simple, STOPPING WATER OUTSIDE OF YOUR FOUNDATION IS THE BEST WAY. Homeowners like bentonite waterproofing since it stops the water and it's usually a fraction of the price of a drain tile system with sump pump.
Other customers like hospitals, schools and apartment buildings find stopping water on the outside foundation doesn't require them to stop working inside or moving out of their apartment. Our equipment doesn't make a lot of noise and we can keep it away from foot traffic in most cases.
Over time we've become the go-to company for exterior waterproofing, we have customers nation-wide that have used the Great Lakes Waterproofing Exterior Waterproofing System.