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A basement window well that fills with water can put a substantial amount of water into a basement in a very short time, usually during the worst storm of the year. Eastern Waterproofing Co., Inc. is a window well waterproofing company based in Manchester, CT, and we have been repairing basement window and window well leaks across Connecticut and Massachusetts since 1976. We are family-owned, fully licensed, and insured in both states. An owner handles every estimate, so the person who tells you what your basement window well needs is the one who stands behind the repair.
Builders have long set houses low in the ground so that less concrete foundation shows above grade. It looks better from the street, but it drops basement windows below grade, so some type of window well goes in to hold the soil back. That well sits against your foundation like an open container. With no working well drain underneath, it fills.
Water rises in the well, climbs past the frame, and finds the joint between the window and the concrete. A window well is only as good as the drainage beneath it. Poor drainage, not a defective window, is behind almost every basement window well we get called out to look at. Until the drainage is fixed, that same basement window leaks again every time the heavy rains come.
We find the same causes over and over.
Water buildup in a well leaves evidence, so you can usually confirm the source before anyone digs.
One simple test settles the question. Make a heavy chalk line on the basement wall under the window. If water leaks in, it will cut a clear streak through the chalk. Seepage from a crack or from floor level spreads sideways, but window well water arrives at one spot, under one basement window.
We would rather tell you how to fix something yourself than sell you work you do not need. Two checks on a wet basement window are worth doing first.
1. Confirm that the ground slopes away from the house, and away from the window well in particular. You may need to build the soil up around the well area so that surface water drains away from the foundation instead of collecting against it.
2. Caulk the inside of the well where it meets the concrete foundation. This will not correct poor drainage, but it does reduce the water that gets through the joint. A plastic bubble-style well cover from any home supply store also helps. Then check that roof water is not falling into the well.
If the window keeps leaking after that, the well needs drainage rather than sealing, and that is the point to call us.
No single waterproofing product fixes every basement window well. We look at how deep the window sits, whether the basement already has an interior drainage system under the slab, and whether there is anywhere lower on the property to send water. Then we recommend one of three approaches, none of them a proprietary product.
This is the most common repair. We install a drain in the bottom of the window well and carry the water it catches through a gravity line to a lower area of the property. Where the basement already has an interior footing drain beneath the slab, we bring the well drain through the foundation wall instead. Window water then joins what the existing drainage systems already move. The drain pipe is bedded in washed stone so that it keeps carrying water rather than silting closed in two seasons. A gravity line installation only holds up if the discharge point stays lower than the well through the wettest part of the year.
When there is nowhere lower to pipe the water to, the answer is to raise the top of the opening above the surrounding ground. We cut out a portion of the window frame and block up the lower part of the opening with solid concrete blocks. That section of the foundation now stands higher than the soil outside. The well is removed, and the area is filled with soil and graded away from the house. In a partial block-up, the window itself stays in place and still opens, so you keep the natural light and the ventilation. This is a masonry installation rather than a piping job, and it is permanent.
In extreme cases where a window sits very deep below grade, the only remaining fix is to remove the window entirely and close the opening with block. We recommend this only when the first two options cannot work, because you are giving up light in that part of the basement.
| Option | Best when | What you keep | Excavation |
| Well drain and gravity line | There is a lower area on the property, or an interior drain system already under the slab | The window, the well, and the natural light | Local digging at the window well |
| Partial block-up | No lower discharge point and moderate window depth | A window that still opens, with less glass area | The well is removed, and the area is backfilled |
| Full elimination of the window | The window sits very deep below grade, and neither option above will work | A permanently dry opening, with no window | The well is removed, and the area is backfilled |
Window well covers are worth installing once a well drains freely, and worth very little before that. A cover keeps rain, snow, leaves, and sand out of a basement window well, and that is what keeps a well drain working for years instead of months. What a cover cannot do is stop water rising from saturated soil.
So the order matters. Get the water out of the well first with proper drainage, then fit window well covers to keep it that way. A cover over a well with no drain just traps whatever gets past it. Until it can drain properly, a window well is a water source sitting against your foundation.
Grading matters just as much as hardware. The soil around the foundation should fall away from the house. Where a downspout empties near a well, extending it is often the cheapest single improvement homeowners can make to a wet basement. Both steps lower the moisture load on the foundation, and neither one needs excavation.
1. Free, no-obligation inspection. An owner comes out, not a commissioned salesperson. We confirm the window well is the actual source. It could be one of the foundation cracks, seams, or floor-level seepage problems we also repair, and the fix for each is completely different.
2. Free written proposal. You get the scope and the price in writing, and we are happy to provide references from work in your area.
3. Excavation and drain installation. We dig at the window well, install the well drain, and bed the pipe so that water runs away instead of collecting.
4. Discharge or tie-in. The line runs to a gravity discharge at a lower area of the property, or through the foundation into the interior drainage systems many older basements already have.
5. Backfill and grade. We backfill the area, grade the soil away from the house, and clean up. We are routinely complimented for leaving a work area cleaner than we found it.
Waterproofing materials matter less here than most people expect. The drain pipe, the washed stone, and the block are ordinary quality materials any contractor can buy. What separates waterproofing systems that hold from the ones that fail is the pitch of the line, how it is bedded, and where the water is finally sent. Those are judgment calls made at the well, not choices made from a catalog. Professional installation is the whole difference between a well drain that lasts and one that fails in a season.
Eastern Waterproofing has been a family-owned Connecticut small business since 1976, and waterproofing and drainage have been the core of the work from the start. That experience is why we can tell you on site whether you are looking at a window well problem, a crack in the concrete, or hydrostatic pressure under the floor. Basement waterproofing is a diagnosis business before it is a construction business, and our aim is to keep your basement dry rather than to sell you a system.
Water intrusion at a basement window is not only a nuisance. Left alone, it feeds mold growth, rots the window frame and sill, and keeps the moisture level in the basement high enough to matter. Framing that stays wet eventually fails, and that is where a drainage problem turns into structural damage. Keeping a basement dry costs less than drying one out, and a season of ignored window well leaks usually costs more in water damage than the drain would have.
We handle basement window and window well waterproofing throughout Hartford County and the rest of Connecticut, along with Hampden County in Massachusetts. After fifty years, our customer list is long enough that we have probably done window well installations near you, so call and ask whether we cover your town.
Not as the primary fix. Caulking the joint where the well meets the foundation reduces the water that gets through, and it is worth doing. But sealing a well that holds water only relocates the problem. Water under pressure finds the next weakest point, often a nearby crack in the concrete. Drainage first, sealing second.
No. A properly built window well drains as fast as water enters it. A well that holds water for hours after a storm either has no drain or has one that is blocked. Water standing in a well loads your foundation walls with pressure at their weakest point, the opening itself.
Almost always poor drainage rather than a faulty basement window. The well fills faster than it empties, the water rises above the sill, and it enters at the joint with the concrete, the weakest point available. Look inside the well for a horizontal debris line. That line marks how high the water stood before it came in.
A substantial amount in a very short time, which is what makes basement window wells one of the faster routes to basement flooding and water damage. A leaking crack in the concrete tends to weep. A full window well pours, and it does it during the heaviest rain of the year.
Rarely. A well cover keeps rain and debris out, so it protects a working drain and is a sensible second step. It does nothing about water infiltration from saturated soil, and it will not lower the moisture already in the basement. Fitted over a failed drain, a cover only hides the problem while it gets worse.
Usually, yes. In most cases, the digging stays local to the well itself. If the basement already has an interior footing drain, the tie-in happens at the well and the perimeter stays untouched, which keeps the installation to one work area. Where there is no system and no lower discharge point, a partial block-up involves the least excavation of any permanent option.
If water is coming in at a basement window, we will come out, tell you what is actually causing it, and put a price in writing. There is no charge for the visit and no obligation to book the work. Water infiltration through a window well is an emergency for the basement even when it stops with the rain. We would far rather look at an emergency now than repair the damage a year from now.
Eastern Waterproofing Co., Inc.
199 Adams St, Manchester, CT 06042
(860) 875-6646
sales@easternwaterproofing.com
Fully licensed and insured.
Request a free written estimate or call (860) 875-6646 and ask for an owner.
