Clarke Basement Systems Case Studies: Electrical Panel Allowing Water Seepage, Markham, ON
Challenge
A home in Markham, Ontario, had water coming out of electrical panel into the basement.
Not only was the basement floor getting wet, but water and electricity don’t mix. This was creating a possible electrical shock, the main electrical panel would trip and shut down the power to the house. With electrical components getting wet, they can also corrode and cause long term electrical breaker damage.
What made this even more difficult was that the wall that the panel was attached to was the garage wall. So the concrete floor in the garage would need to be jack hammered out and removed.
The homeowner could eventually go without power, get an electrical shock or an electrical fire in the house could be made. This was a very serious concern.
Solution
The customer called Clarke Basement Systems and spoke to Ron Monk who provided this electrical nightmare a solution to permanently solve this dangerous problem.
For Safety, our production manager arranged for a power outage for 1/2 a day at the client's home.
The electrical meter to the home was pulled by the local utility provider, providing a safe work environment for our foreman, Don and helper, Devin.
They used their own generator to provide the power they needed to jack hammer through the concrete floor. They then dug down approximately 2" to carefully expose the electrical conduit on the backside wall of the electrical panel. Using special care and tools, they opened up the conduit, which was full of water, and drained it. Once drained, they injected Basement Systems hydrophobic foam in both directions of the conduit to prevent further water from having a chance at entering the client's electrical panel. They also sealed the voids found around the conduit where the pipe enters the concrete wall.
The conduit was re-sleeved over the top for physical protection. The hole was then back filled and concrete was re-poured in the garage.
Being winter temperatures outside, a large construction heater was used in the garage to help the concrete set. The utility company returned shortly after to Re connect the power to the house.