Window Well Installation and Repair in Winnipeg
A window well with nowhere to drain collects water and holds it against the wall.
A window well holds soil back from a below-grade window and gives it light. What it must not do is hold water, and a surprising number of the wells Winnipeg Foundation Experts is called to look at are doing exactly that.
The Drainage Is the Whole Point
A well is a void in the ground against your foundation wall. Water finds voids. If the base of that well has no drainage, every rainfall and every spring melt fills it, and the water sits at the lowest point, which is the join between your foundation and a window opening.
Standing water in a well is water under pressure against the weakest part of that wall. It comes through the window frame, through the gap around the frame, or through the wall itself.
Proper drainage means clean stone in the base with a path down to the weeping tile or the drainage system. Not a bucket of gravel thrown in, which silts up and stops draining within a few seasons.
Rusted and Failing Wells
Corrugated steel wells rust from the bottom, where they sit in wet soil year after year. Once the base is gone, the soil the well was holding back moves into the well.
That soil fills the base, buries whatever drainage existed, and the well starts holding water. It is a slow failure that shows up as a wet basement long before anyone thinks to look at the rusty metal outside.
Grading Around the Rim
The ground around the well should slope away from it. Frequently it does the opposite, because backfill settles over the years and the well rim ends up sitting in a shallow depression that collects surface water and funnels it in.
Correcting the grade around the rim is inexpensive and it removes a large share of the water the well would otherwise have to drain.
Winnipeg Conditions
Wells here take a heavy spring melt in a short window, often while the ground below is still frozen and cannot absorb anything. A well that drains adequately in summer can overflow in April for exactly that reason.
Cleared snow piled against the house through the winter adds to the volume, so the spot you choose for that pile is worth a thought.
We will look at your wells and their drainage as part of any assessment, free. Related: egress window installation for new openings, basement waterproofing when water is already getting through, and wet basement repair. We cover Charleswood and River Heights.
What's Included
- Galvanized and formed window wells installed to proper depth
- Drainage stone and connection to the foundation drainage
- Replacement of rusted and collapsing wells
- Grading correction around the well rim
- Written scope before work starts
Other Services We Offer in Winnipeg
Window Wells Questions
Why does my window well fill with water?
Almost always because it has no working drainage in its base, or the drainage it had has silted up. Rain and meltwater collect in the well and have nowhere to go, so the level rises until it reaches the window. The well then holds standing water directly against your foundation.
Do window wells need covers?
They help with rain, leaves and snow, and they are worth having. A cover is not a substitute for drainage though, because groundwater and meltwater still reach the well from the soil around it.
My well is rusted through at the bottom. Does that matter?
Yes, though not for the reason people expect. The structural job of the well is holding back soil. Once it has rusted out at the base, soil pushes in, fills the well, and buries the drainage, which is how a rust problem becomes a water-in-the-basement problem.
Can a window well be added to an existing basement window?
Usually, and it is often worth it if the window sits low and the ground has built up around it over the years. The excavation and the drainage connection are the substantive parts of the work.
Get a Free Window Wells Quote
Book a free assessment. We will tell you what is moving, why, and whether it needs work now.