BUILDING FAILURE INVESTIGATIONS

Chester, PA. The design for this 40-unit family development called for the office and community space to be located in the perpetually wet basement of a former school, located over an underground stream.

The architect's design called for installing a "French drain" around the perimeter of the space. Innova believed this would provide a ready relief point for the rising under-slab water and soil gases. Innova's fix involved pouring a new concrete slab over a poly vapor barrier and a stone drainage field base, with a perimeter drain tile system enclosed behind a water impermeable wall system. The whole system discharges into a central sump pit. The basement has remained dry while the sump pit receives a nearly constant flow of under-slab water.

Back to Home Page > Building Retrofits > Building Failure Investigations