What is "No Dig" Bentonite Clay Injection Waterproofing?
Bentonite clay injection is a waterproofing method that involves injecting the soil around a foundation creating a barrier that fills cracks and voids blocking water from moving through your basement walls.
Bentonite is the world's #1 waterproofing material available in membranes or powder, selling billions of dollars every year. Great Lakes Waterproofing has installed almost all waterproofing methods but we get more calls for exterior waterproofing than any other method by far.
Bentonite is called the “Clay of a Thousand Uses” because of its unique properties. Manufacturers use it for many different applications some completely unrelated to basement waterproofing.
The Process of Bentonite Clay Injection
- Drilling Holes: Unless there's a hard surface like concrete or asphalt, holes don't need to be drilled. Bentonite is also used to lubricate giant drill bits used for oil well drilling, it's slippery and will hold the dirt back when it's in a hole. The injection wand is hand pushed into the ground all the way down to the footing.
- Injecting the Bentonite: Bentonite clay is injected into the soil, when it encounters water, it absorbs it and swells to fit the space it's in filling gaps and cracks creating a seal
- Sealing and Finishing: After the injection, the concrete or asphalt holes are sealed. Ground cover is cleaned and left almost like it was found.
Can "No Dig" Bentonite Clay Injections Cause Foundation Problems?
Anytime you work next to a foundation there's a potential for problems and we take precautions to prevent any wall damage. We have never experienced any with 1000's of jobs done although other "waterproofers" will gladly tell you all the dangers even though they've had zero experience with bentonite waterproofing.
Some of the myths include shrinkage of the bentonite after the injections. Bentonite has a molecular bond with water, when they mine it they use 1800 F ovens to get it dry, it takes a lot of heat to turn it to powder!
Swelling of bentonite does not exert any significant lateral pressure on foundation walls, in fact it does the opposite, while water is dynamic and can push against the walls, when it bonds with bentonite it creates a "static" weight meaning the load pressure is below it.
Bentonite is also used for making foundation cinder blocks (CMU), it helps the concrete bind and has waterproofing qualities
Why Exterior Waterproofing is The Best Choice
It's hard to get 100% agreement but all waterproofing engineers will agree that exterior waterproofing is the best way to waterproof anything. Bentonite is the world's number 1 basement waterproofing material for several reasons:
- Being all-natural, it will not degrade in the ground
- Being all-natural, it will not harm plants, animals or most creatures.
- Bentonite stops or slows down further wall damage from water.
- Bentonite has been used on many different projects and has proven itself for decades.
What is Interior Waterproofing?
There is no system we would consider "interior waterproofing." Allowing water inside of the foundation and then pumping it out is "water-management." Larger "waterproofers" don't even use waterproofing in their name because they don't do waterproofing. Paints and the ever-expanding field of coatings and sealants might work for awhile but will eventually peel off with the wet degrading concrete wall, they are much more effective on the outside when the wall is brand new. We've installed several of these systems, sometimes there is a reason but in most cases exterior waterproofing is the best way to stop water.
