Camera inspection, repair and replacement of French drains on Montreal’s Rive-Sud. A technician at your home within 48 hours, work done in 3 days, no subcontracting. Free quote.
Excavation
French drain
Crack repair
You live on the Rive-Sud and you’ve noticed a small damp mark on a basement wall. Or a smell you can’t get rid of. Maybe you’ve been telling yourself for a while that you should call someone, but you keep putting it off.
The problem with a French drain is that it doesn’t fail all at once. It breaks down slowly, over years, while you go on with your life. Until the day the water really does come in.
We inspect, we diagnose, we act. Every week you wait is water working against you. We stop that now.
Those powdery white marks on the concrete are mineral salt left behind by seeping water. It’s not pretty, and it’s not harmless.
A musty smell, stains on the walls or constantly high humidity often mean water is getting in where it shouldn’t.
If the ground sinks near the foundation, the soil is shifting. A failing drain is often the cause.
It’s often the simplest sign. A French drain lasts about 25 to 35 years depending on the soil type. Was your house built in 1985? Your drain is at the end of its life, whether it leaks yet or not.
The ground should always slope away from the foundation. A grade that sends water back toward the house makes your drain work twice as hard, and eventually wears it out.
Puddles that linger long after a rain are a sign that water isn’t draining the way it should.
A properly waterproofed foundation means a house that holds up against freeze-thaw cycles, groundwater pressure and the passing years.
No moisture seeping in, no mould, no stale air. A watertight foundation means a healthy environment for the whole family.
A properly installed membrane means a sale that goes up in price, not a condition that kills the offer.
Every year we wait, the damage progresses. Waterproofing now means avoiding a major renovation three years from now.
diagnosis – quote – work – follow-up
A technician comes to your home within 48 hours to assess the situation. We show you what we see and explain everything.
You receive a detailed quote covering what’s essential. The price you see is the price you pay.
No subcontracting. We stick to the announced timelines, protect your property, and leave the site clean every evening.
If something goes wrong in the months or years that follow, we come back, no questions asked. You have our number, and we answer it.
It depends on its condition. A drain showing signs of weakness rarely improves with time. Water in the basement, persistent dampness, odours, ground that sinks: those signals don’t go away. The longer you wait, the more secondary damage builds up. If you have any doubt, a camera inspection tells you exactly where things stand before you decide.
A camera inspection is exactly what it’s for. We insert a camera into the existing drain and see its real condition: blockages, broken joints, sagging, root intrusion. No digging is needed to get a clear diagnosis. It’s the first step before any decision.
In general, the work takes 3 days. Within 48 hours of your request, a technician comes to your home to assess the situation, and then we schedule the work.
The exact time can vary depending on the length of the drain, accessibility and what we find once we open things up. We give you a clear estimate before we start, and we keep you informed if anything changes along the way.
No. The work is done outside, around the perimeter of the foundation. You can stay home. There will be equipment and noise, but nothing that forces you to move out. We also make sure to leave safe access around the work zone.
The price depends on the length of drain to be replaced or repaired, the depth, accessibility around the house (driveway, deck, landscaping) and the condition of what we find once we open things up. Two houses on the same street can end up with two different prices.
That’s why we come to you first: a technician assesses the situation at your home within 48 hours, and then you receive a free, detailed quote. The price you see is the price you pay.
A French drain lasts 25 to 35 years on average, depending on the soil type. If your house was built in 1985, for example, your drain is probably at the end of its life, whether or not it has started to leak yet.
A drain doesn’t fail all at once: it breaks down slowly over the years. A camera inspection tells you where it really stands.
Here are the most common signals:
In Quebec, the Building Code has required a foundation drain around homes with a basement since 1955 for new construction. If your house was built after that date, it should have one.
Having a drain doesn’t mean it still works: over time, it wears out. A camera inspection confirms its real condition.
Start with the year your house was built: if it dates from after 1955, it should have one. To confirm that it’s there and find out its condition, a camera inspection is the most direct way, without digging.
An exterior drain runs along the foundation on the outside of the house, while an interior drain sits under the slab. At Solutions Fondation, our French drain work is done on the outside, around the perimeter of the foundation, and you can stay home while we work.
