Younger basements, smaller leaks
Novi was organized as a township in 1832 and didn’t become a city until 1969. Twelve Oaks Mall opened in 1977, and the subdivisions came with it. The census counted 9,668 residents in 1970, 32,998 in 1990 and 66,243 in 2020.
The Census Bureau’s housing estimates show the same boom. Of about 28,400 homes in Novi, roughly 21,300 were built between 1970 and 2009, and the median Novi house was built in 1993. Fewer than one in twelve is older than 1970.
Where poured walls leak
A poured concrete basement wall rarely leaks everywhere at once. It leaks at particular spots:
- Shrinkage cracks, thin vertical lines that often start at a window corner.
- Tie-rod holes, small round spots where the steel ties that held the forms have rusted and let water follow them through the wall.
- Window wells that fill up because the drain at the bottom is plugged or missing.
- Pipe penetrations, where a water or sewer line comes through the wall.
Each of those is usually a small repair. Foundation crack injection runs about $500 to $2,500 per crack, done from inside, and because it’s waterproofing work it carries our 25-year transferable limited warranty. One wet crack rarely calls for a whole perimeter system. Our Oakland County crack repair page goes deeper on poured-wall cracks.
Block walls leak differently
A concrete block wall lets water in through its mortar joints and out along the floor, so injection usually isn’t the fix there. That calls for interior waterproofing with interior drain tile and a sump, about $2,000 to $35,000.
Foundation repair for walls that are moving
A vertical crack that seeps is a leak. A horizontal crack, or a wall that bows in near the middle, is a different problem: the soil outside is pushing on the wall. Wet clay swells, frozen ground adds its own push in winter, and sealing the crack alone won’t stop the wall from moving.
We reinforce moving walls two ways:
- Carbon fiber strips bonded to the wall, for a wall that has only started to move. About $1,500 to $2,500.
- Steel I-beam wall braces for a wall that has moved further and needs to be held in place. About $1,500 to $4,000.
Those are the ranges in our cost guide. A long horizontal crack is priced after we see the wall, and we look at the drainage at the same time, since water pressure behind a wall adds to the push. The estimate is free. Bracing is structural work, so it generally needs a building permit, and we can pull it for you. Our page on foundation repair for bowing walls shows how each repair works.
Basement waterproofing near Novi’s lakes and wetlands
Novi straddles two watersheds. Walled Lake, which lies mostly inside Novi, is the headwaters of the Middle Branch of the Rouge River. A 2001 city report says about 70 percent of Novi lies in the Rouge watershed; parts of the north and west sides drain to the Huron River instead. Several of Novi’s smaller lakes began as gravel pits or stormwater ponds. The city also keeps an official wetland map and protects a 25-foot buffer around regulated wetlands and watercourses.
For a basement, that means the ground can change from one street to the next. Clay holds water against a wall for days. Sand and gravel drain quickly but can sit on a high water table near lakes and ponds, and houses there lean harder on the sump. On those lots we size the sump pump for the water it will actually see, recommend a backup, and make sure the discharge ends far enough from the house.
If your yard borders a regulated wetland, check the city’s wetland map before planning a dig, a dry well or French drain, or a new discharge line near it. Novi’s permit paperwork asks about the wetland and its 25-foot buffer, and work is expected to stay outside them unless the plan shows otherwise.
When a finished basement can’t be opened from inside, exterior waterproofing means digging to the footing, putting a membrane on the wall and replacing the footing drain. It runs about $3,000 to $60,000.
Our 25-year transferable limited warranty covers our waterproofing work; it doesn’t cover French drains, dry wells, the sump pit or the pump.
If the basement is already wet
If water is already on the floor, we do flood cleanup too: water extraction and drying, and thermal imaging to find moisture hiding behind walls. Then we fix whatever let the water in. Emergency calls are answered 24/7.
Getting to Novi, and permits
Novi is about 40 miles from our base in Shelby Township, usually 45 minutes to an hour by I-696 or M-59, depending on traffic. Estimates are free, we typically reply within 2 hours, and financing is available through Enhancify.
In Novi, sump, sewer and water service work goes on a plumbing permit from the city’s Community Development Department, and the work can’t start until the permit is issued. We pull the permit for you.
Novi is part of our Oakland County service area. Nearby, see Walled Lake, Commerce Township, West Bloomfield, Farmington Hills and Livonia.
