Foundation and bulkhead repairin Woburn, MA

What we look at on a wet basement or a failing bulkhead, how we decide between repair and replacement, and what drives the cost of the job.

Signs your foundation or bulkhead needs attention

Most homeowners call us after they notice one of these:

• Water seeping in at the bottom of a wall, or a damp band along the floor after heavy rain.
• White, chalky deposits (efflorescence) on stone or block. That powder is mineral left behind by water moving through the wall.
• Sand or crumbled mortar on the floor at the base of a stone or rock basement wall.
• Loose or missing stones in a fieldstone foundation.
• Cracks in a block wall that run sideways or step diagonally along the mortar joints.
• A wall that leans or bows inward.
• Water coming in under the bulkhead door or pooling at the bottom of the bulkhead stairs.
• A bulkhead door that has rusted through, sags, or no longer closes and latches.

A single hairline crack in a poured concrete wall is often shrinkage from when the concrete cured, and it may only need sealing. Sideways cracks and bowing in block walls are different: they point to soil pushing on the wall. In Massachusetts that pressure gets worse every winter, when wet soil freezes, expands and pushes again. Those walls are worth having looked at before the next freeze-thaw season.

Stone, rock and fieldstone foundation repair

Many older homes around Woburn and the surrounding towns sit on fieldstone or rough rock foundations, which many homeowners simply call a rock or stone basement. These walls are heavy and sturdy, but they depend on the mortar between the stones. As that mortar ages, water washes it out, the joints open up, and the wall starts letting in water, sand and sometimes pests.

The main fix is careful repointing: raking out the failed mortar, packing new mortar deep into the joints, and resetting any stones that have worked loose. The mortar has to suit an old wall. A mix that is much harder than the stone and the original mortar can trap moisture and cause new damage, which is the same reason old brick needs a matched mortar (our brick repointing guide explains it). Where a section of the wall has moved, it may need to be rebuilt and reinforced. On the outside, we pair the repair with grading and drainage so that wall stops getting soaked in the first place.

Cinder block and poured concrete foundations

Block foundations crack along their mortar joints. Vertical and hairline cracks are usually cleaned out and sealed. Stair-step and horizontal cracks, especially with the wall bowing inward, mean soil pressure is winning. That wall needs to be straightened and reinforced, not just patched, and the outside conditions behind the pressure need fixing too: saturated soil, poor grading and downspouts emptying right at the wall.

Block walls are hollow, so water that gets into the cores can show up well away from where it entered. A wet corner is not always a crack in that corner. That is why we trace the water's path before we recommend anything.

Bulkhead doors: repair, replace or rebuild

A bulkhead is the angled outside door and stairway into the basement. (Here that means the basement entry, the kind Bilco makes, not a waterfront seawall.) Most bulkhead problems fall into one of three levels:

• Repair: the door is sound, but a hinge, handle, lift spring or the seal at the sill has failed. Bilco and other makers sell replacement parts for many models, so a door in good shape can often be kept.
• Bulkhead door replacement: the steel has rusted through, the panels are bent, or the door no longer closes square. A new door is sized to the existing opening, then fastened and sealed to the foundation sill.
• Full rebuild: the side walls of the stairwell are cracked or leaning, the concrete sill has broken up, or the steps are crumbling. That means excavation, new walls, new steps and a new door, done as one job.

Bilco is one of the partner brands shown on our site, and we work with other suppliers too, so the door fits your opening and your budget. If you are wondering whether there is an alternative to a new bulkhead door, the real choice is usually between a new door on the existing walls and a whole new entry. Two of the reviews further down this page come from bulkhead jobs: one replaced the bulkhead and the blocks around it and refinished the steps, the other replaced the bulkheads, laid new cement and fixed the cement steps.

Bulkheads leak most often at the joint where the door frame meets the foundation, and at the bottom of the stairs, where water collects with nowhere to go. Resealing the sill, regrading the soil so it slopes away from the entry, and giving the stairwell a way to drain fix more leaks than a new door does on its own. For the stairs themselves, see some of the steps and stairs we have built.

Basement waterproofing starts with drainage

Most basement water starts outside: roof runoff, soil that slopes toward the house, and downspouts that empty right next to the foundation. When gutters drop roof water right beside the wall, much of it ends up against your foundation.

That is why our foundation and bulkhead work often includes exterior drainage: regrading so the soil falls away from the house, piping downspouts underground, French drains, and dry wells that let the collected water soak into the ground away from the foundation. If a slope next to the house is pushing soil and water toward it, our retaining walls page covers that side of the problem.

Dig Safe and permits

Any digging along a foundation or around a bulkhead starts with a notice to Dig Safe so buried utilities get marked, and structural work such as rebuilding a bulkhead entry may also need a building permit from your town, which we go over at the estimate.

What decides the cost

Our guides to foundation repair cost and bulkhead replacement cost go deeper on each factor.

We don't price foundation or bulkhead work over the phone, because the cost comes from what we find on site. The main factors are:

• The type of foundation (fieldstone, rock, block or poured concrete) and how much of it needs work.
• Repair versus replacement. A new door on sound walls is a much smaller job than rebuilding the walls, sill and stairs.
• How much digging is needed, how deep, and whether a machine can reach the spot.
• The door you choose and the size of your opening.
• Any drainage added to stop the water at its source.
• What has to come out and go back: plantings, walkways, patio pavers or steps.

After the free visit you get an estimate that spells out the scope, so you can compare it with other bids line by line.

How to choose a foundation or bulkhead contractor

• Ask whether they will find where the water comes from, or only patch the spot where it shows.
• Ask whether they handle both the masonry and the drainage.
• Get the scope in writing: door only, door and sill, or a full rebuild.
• Confirm they are insured and ask what their guarantee covers.
• Read reviews from homeowners who had the same kind of job.

Gerrior Masonry & Landscape Construction is family-owned and based at 245 Salem Street in Woburn. We are fully insured, our work is guaranteed, we are members of the Woburn Chamber of Commerce, and we hold a 4.6 rating from 41 Google reviews. You can read our reviews, learn about the family business, or check the towns we serve.