Basement waterproofing in Scarborough is very often a story about age. Wexford, Dorset Park, Bendale, Birchcliff and Cliffside are full of bungalows and storey-and-a-half houses from the 1950s and 1960s, and their drainage is now sixty or seventy years old. The weeping tile around the footing was often clay, laid without a filter, and over the decades it has cracked, filled with silt or been entered by roots. When it stops carrying water away, the ground around the basement stays wet and the water finds its way in.
TGV Construction Group Inc. works across Toronto and has completed more than 300 projects in the GTA and Ontario since 2017. If your basement is wet today, our water damage restoration page and the water damage cleanup guide explain the first steps. For finishing the space afterwards, see the Scarborough basement renovation guide.
What we find in Scarborough basements
Tired weeping tile. The most common cause in older houses. Signs include water at the bottom of several walls rather than one spot, damp along the floor joint after long rain, and a floor drain that gurgles.
Block foundations. Many older Scarborough houses stand on concrete block. Blocks have mortar joints every few inches and hollow cores that can fill with water, so they leak in stepped lines and can bow inward under soil pressure. A bowing wall is a structural issue first.
Side-yard water. Bungalows sit close together, and the narrow side yard often slopes toward the house or carries the water from two roofs. Window wells in those side yards fill quickly.
Storm backup. Several parts of Toronto, Scarborough included, have flooded in intense storms when the sewers could not keep up, sending water back up floor drains. That is a plumbing problem solved with a backwater valve, not with a wall membrane.
Basement waterproofing in Scarborough for a second suite
Many Scarborough bungalows are being turned into two homes, with a separate apartment in the basement. That plan raises the stakes. A tenant cannot live with a damp wall, insurers ask about flood protection, and finishes in a rental basement take hard use. If you are planning a suite, test the basement through a wet season, repair every leak point, and plan the sump, the backwater valve and the drainage at any new side entrance before the framing starts. Our Pickering basement guide and basement renovation page cover the rest of the suite work.
Exterior repair for older walls
For houses with failed weeping tile, the lasting repair is usually exterior: dig down to the footing along the affected walls, repair and coat the foundation, add a membrane and a drainage board, lay new weeping tile in clean stone and backfill so the ground slopes away. It is more disruptive than inside work, but it fixes the drainage itself. Where a driveway, a neighbour's wall or a deck makes digging impractical, an interior drain and sump is the alternative; our article on interior basement waterproofing explains how that works.
The process
- Ask how the water behaves. Water that appears slowly along the floor after days of rain points to ground water; water that rushes in during one storm often points to the floor drain or a window well.
- Check the weeping tile. Where the house has a cleanout or the drain can be reached, we look inside the pipe with a camera for roots, silt and collapsed sections.
- Inspect the walls. Block walls are checked for stepped cracks, damp mortar joints and bowing; poured walls for cracks and leaking openings.
- Check the outside. Grading, downspouts, driveway slope, the side yard and the window wells are checked for water aimed at the house.
- Write down the cause and the fix. Your quote says which walls are affected and what each repair is.
- Excavate where needed. For exterior repairs we dig to the footing, protecting walkways and plants, and keep the trench safe.
- Repair and membrane the wall. The wall is cleaned, cracks and joints are repaired, and a waterproof membrane with a drainage board is applied.
- Replace the weeping tile. New perforated pipe with a filter sock is laid in clean stone and connected to a sump or an approved outlet.
- Backfill and grade. Clean stone goes against the wall, soil on top slopes away from the house, and downspouts are extended.
- Finish inside. Wet materials are replaced, and the basement is ready to finish or to return to use.
Permits and the City of Toronto
Scarborough is part of the City of Toronto. Exterior foundation work near property lines, structural repairs to bowing walls and plumbing work such as a backwater valve normally need permits from Toronto Building, and the City's flood protection subsidy applies only to work done with the required permit. Our GTA renovation permit guide describes the process.
An example from a Wexford bungalow
A 1958 bungalow with a block foundation has water along the back and side walls after every long rain. A camera inspection of the drain shows roots and a collapsed clay section near the back corner. The owners plan a basement suite for their son. The repair: the back and side walls are excavated, the block is parged and coated with a membrane, new weeping tile runs to a new sump, a backwater valve is installed by our plumbing partner, and the side yard is regraded. The suite is framed only after the basement has stayed dry through the next storms.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my Scarborough bungalow basement leak now when it was dry for years?
Weeping tile from the 1950s and 1960s wears out: clay sections crack, silt fills the pipe and tree roots grow in. Once it stops carrying water away, the water rises against the wall and finds the cracks and joints. A change outside, such as a new driveway or a removed tree, can also change where the water goes.
Does Toronto help pay for flood protection in Scarborough?
The City of Toronto runs a Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy Program for some flood protection devices, such as backwater valves and sump pumps, installed with a permit. The City sets the rules and amounts, so check them before you book the work.
Can I build a basement apartment in a basement that leaks?
Fix the water first. A second suite needs a dry basement, and a leak behind new drywall turns into mould and a tenant complaint. We waterproof and then build the suite as one planned project.
Is a block foundation harder to waterproof?
Block walls have more joints and hollow cores that hold water, so they leak in more places and can bow under soil pressure. Exterior work with a membrane is often the better choice for them, and a bowing wall needs structural repair first.
Do you also handle the inside drain and sump?
Yes. Where an exterior repair is not possible, we install an interior drain and sump, with our licensed plumbing partners for the pump and valve connections.
Talk to us about your Scarborough basement
We inspect and waterproof basements across Scarborough, from Birchcliff and Cliffside to Agincourt, Malvern and Rouge, and the inspection report tells you what we saw. More on related problems: foundation crack repair in Toronto.
Phone (365) 363-6995, email estimating@tgvconstructiongroup.ca, or tell us about your basement in Scarborough on the Get a Quote page.
