Basement waterproofing in Port Hawkesbury

Port Hawkesbury is the gateway to Cape Breton, and it has a different foundation profile from the industrial towns further up the island.

Because the town grew after the Canso Causeway opened in 1955 and the mill arrived, most of the housing stock is post-war rather than pre-war. That means far fewer stone foundations and far more poured concrete and concrete block on glacial till. It also means a completely different set of leaks. Poured walls fail at predictable places: shrinkage cracks running from the corner of a window opening, cold joints where a pour was interrupted, and form-tie holes that were never properly plugged and now run a thin stream every time it rains hard. Each of those is a good candidate for polyurethane injection, done from the inside, in a few hours, at a price that is nothing like a drainage system.

The honest version of that is worth saying: if your only problem is one vertical crack in a poured wall, you should not be sold a perimeter system. We would rather inject the crack and be done.

Where the town’s location does create difficulty is weather exposure. The Strait of Canso funnels wind, and wind-driven rain does not fall on your roof, it is driven horizontally onto walls, into window wells, and against the joint where your foundation meets the framing above it. Chronically wet window wells that were never drained are a recurring find in this area, and a wall that is fine in ordinary rain will leak in a southeaster.

The surrounding communities widen the picture. Isle Madame, Louisdale, St. Peter’s and Arichat are coastal, with older stock, high water tables near the shore, and properties on well and septic where discharge routing has to respect the field. Judique and Creignish run up the Ceilidh Trail on sloping ground where lateral seepage from uphill is the dominant mechanism.

Being right at the causeway, Port Hawkesbury and the Strait area are among the most accessible parts of the island for us. Assessments here are free and booked on regular routing, the same as anywhere else we work.