Walker sits on the northwest side of the Grand Rapids metro and stretches from the Standale commercial area near the Grand River up through residential neighborhoods along Alpine Avenue and 3 Mile Road. The city catches some of the heaviest lake-effect snowfall in Kent County most winters, which makes spring snowmelt particularly hard on local foundations. We waterproof basements in Walker year-round, with calls heaviest from late February through early summer.
Lake-effect snow is the local complication. Heavy snowpack against the foundation through the winter slowly melts as spring approaches, and the meltwater has to go somewhere. With clay-heavy West Michigan soil holding the water in place against foundation walls, hydrostatic pressure builds steadily through March and April. Many Walker basements that stayed dry through summer thunderstorms see their first water of the year during spring melt. Block-wall basements in the older Standale-area neighborhoods are particularly prone because the mortar joints and block cells offer multiple entry points.
The most common Walker calls are spring leaks at the floor-wall joint, vertical cracks in poured-concrete walls from the 70s and 80s, and sump pump failures during heavy spring runoff. Some older block-wall homes also show early signs of bowing on one or more walls. We diagnose each foundation individually and recommend the right fix, whether that is interior drainage, crack injection, structural reinforcement, or a combination of those.
We also work in Rockford just north, Grandville across the river to the south, and central Grand Rapids next door.