Waterproofing: The Unsung Hero Of Your Home

We all have favorite parts of our home. Perhaps it’s the kitchen – the home of many fine meals and after-dinner conversations. Perhaps it is an elegant dining room. Or maybe for you it is an expanded family room with the surround sound and big, comfortable couches for lounging and sleeping.

These are not bad parts of your home. They are great. However, they are not the best part of your home. There is one part of your home that makes everything else worthwhile.

It makes the whole place able to stand up over time.

Waterproofing.

Without quality waterproofing, every other part of your living experience would be worse.

What can go wrong without quality waterproofing?

Waterproofing makes everything else possible.

What does this mean? Well a humid living space can lead to bad outcomes in every other beloved part of your house.

The kitchen you love? If your home is too humid, it becomes hard to store fruits there for any length of time. Pests find your home more hospitable and easier to get into.

Thinking of the wonderful memories around your dining room table? Imagine instead of a Thanksgiving meal, the air is instead filled with the dank smell of earth, humid mold. It’s not a welcoming space.

And without a dry basement, would your family room exist at all? No electrician will wire the space for thousands of dollars of gadget and games if they know that the next rain will just short out the fuse box …. Or that the work might possibly not pass inspection.

Waterproofing is the part of the house that makes everything else possible. That’s why it might be exaggerating, but only a little, to say that waterproofing is the unsung hero of your house.

So when you’re building a new house, you don’t want to cut corners on waterproofing.

Instead, hire trusted experts with years of experience in waterproofing. And use quality durable and time-tested materials that are trusted by professional homebuilders.

Mar-Flex Waterproofing Materials offer consumers a wide range of options to fit the situation. Whether you are looking to waterproof a residential space on a limited budget, or if you have a sensitive commercial space that needs top of the line waterproofing, there is a Mar-Flex product for you.

And if you have concerns about the environmental impact of your work, or are shooting for a top LEADS score, Mar-Flex has solutions there too.

Call one of our knowledgeable associates today for more information about how we can help your building stay dry for a generation.

Waterproofing is important to your whole house

Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash

The Average Cost of Building a New House Has Risen To What?!?!?

In the midst of unprecedented housing demand, a booming economy, shipping delays caused by the pandemic, and unusual price spikes for building materials, the cost of building a new house seems staggering.

In fact, HomeAdviser suggests that this year the average cost of building a new home will top $280,000.

With costs running over $300 per square foot, what options do you have for building a new home without breaking the bank. Or without being able to afford the furniture to put in it?

Prospective homebuilders need to think about where they can sacrifice and compromise. More importantly, they need to set parameters about where they need to make sure they spend the money upfront without sacrificing quality.

Where you can sacrifice

Wait for some spaces – While it is true that the best time to do the work of building a house is while the house is being built, there are still cost savings to be had. You can delay the cost of an expanded deck or a completed basement until the price of supplies comes down. By waiting until later to finish a few spaces, you can have your house now, and finish it when prices come back to earth.

Perhaps you were looking at the latest appliances and fixtures. These costs can devour a budget without adding any real functionality. Get into your house now, and when the market is right, but in the luxury features that looked so good on paper and in the showroom.

Where you can’t sacrifice

You would be wise to look for cost savings in every part of the work. However, there are fundamental aspects of building a house where you can save without scrimping.

The best example of this is in waterproofing. While there might be a large temptation to save some money by scaling back on the best quality waterproofing you can get, this is not a place where that makes sense. The choices you make underground around your foundation are – in a word – foundational. They help determine the overall quality of your work.

One company that can help you spend your money wisely without sacrificing long-term quality is Mar-Flex. Our experienced builders and wide range of efficient, cost-effective, and eco-friendly products make us an excellent partner in your homebuilding experience.

We can help you get the long-lasting results you want, while leaving money for building the rest of your house of dreams.

A new home will cost more than ever. Here’s where to save and where not to scrimp.

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Mar-Flex Celebrates 35 Years – An Amazing Accomplishment

Mar-Flex Waterproofing and Building Products is marking an unusual milestone in American businesses this year. By making it to their 35th year of business, Mar-Flex has outperformed expectations.

Although there are not statistics on *every* business created or dissolved in the United States, there are some very reliable measures to use to evaluate what it means to last 35 years in one business. And there are some common sense conclusions to reach.

What the statistics say

While we can’t dig deep into the lifespan of every company ever formed, we can taker a sample from the most successful companies.

The Standard & Poor’s Index tracks the 500 of the nation’s largest and most successful companies in a wide array of industries. It is considered in many circumstances to be the best indicator of our country’s economy and is intended to be a reliable snapshot of what success looks like in the United States.

According to Statista.com, the average age of a S&P 500 company is currently a little more than 19 years. This means that Mar-Flex has been around almost twice as long as the average S&P 500 company.

1979 was the last year that the average S&P 500 company exceeded 35 years in age. If you reach back to 1965, when company longevity was a bit more normal, the average was still less than Mar-Flex’s mark. That year the average age of an S&P 500 company was 32 years.

Obviously Mar-Flex has found a way to buck the modern trends and remain in business more than three and a half decades. What does this mean?

What the evidence says

There are multiple reasons why companies disappear. These reasons include being bought out, creating one or more unpopular products, or suffering other forms of mismanagement.

It is certain that a company that routinely puts out a bad product, or one that fails to meet their customers’ needs, are going to quickly go out of business. Word of mouth and successful projects are what keeps a company alive.

Thirty-five years of being alive is a testament to a job well done, over and over again. Decades of satisfied customers, and successful projects are what allow a company to survive.

Despite recessions, booms and busts, and waves of legislation changing rules and expectations, Mar-Flex has remained successfully in business and thriving.

Photo by George Dolgikh @ Giftpundits.com: https://www.pexels.com/photo/happy-anniversary-signage-2072175/

What To Look For In A Backhoe Loader

Are you looking to tackle any type of landscaping, construction, or extreme yard project? Are you getting into farming and need some assistance with lifting hay bales or evening the land? If the answer is yes, a backhoe loader might be the tool for you.

If you do not know what a backhoe loader is, it is a common piece of machinery that can be used for material transportation, digging large holes, displacing large yard objects such as rocks and gravel, and more. There are different sizes and types of backhoe loaders to choose from, and making sure you have your project fully planned out will make selecting the right one easier.

You can choose to rent, buy new, or buy a used backhoe loader. If you only have one project, consider renting! You’ll be able to get the job done without the hassle of finding a place to store it long term. If buying a backhoe loader is something you are interested in, there are several things to look for.

If you are buying it used, double check the maintenance history to help anticipate whether you will need to do any immediate repairs. Even if it is up to date for check ups, knowing how well the previous owner or owners took care of the machine is a generally good piece of information. If you are a part of a new company deciding whether to invest in one, starting with a used backhoe loader may be the recommended business tactic, as it saves you money on the initial investment while serving the same amount of customers. Ask your supplier to walk you through each part of your backhoe loader and help you understand the functionality.

If the backhoe loader does not seem to do everything you hoped it would, look into one of the numerous attachments available. The attachments range from hammers to break through larger rocks, concrete, or asphalt, a tiger tooth to break through ice in colder areas, log grapples specifically made for grasping and transporting logs, and augers for drilling through dirt and more heterogeneous and rocky soils. There is even a broom attachment to assist in your clean up after bigger projects!

All in all, looking into a backhoe loader for your construction, landscaping, and other larger projects might be a smart decision. From the machine itself to the various attachments, you can be sure that most of your necessary tasks can be taken care of. Visit your local equipment store and see if they have one available!

Photo by Zac Edmonds on Unsplash

What To Know About Your Home Foundation Before Asking A Professional For Help

https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/cracked-foundation

If you suspect that your home may be having foundation issues, it might be time to ask a professional for help. Before that, here are some things to know about your home foundation.

Your home foundation can lead to several general issues throughout your house, including cracked walls, uneven door frames, windows pulling away from the wall, and uneven floors. You might notice that some of those problems can be located nowhere near the foundation itself – foundation problems affect all areas of your home. Do not take any sign lightly, despite how far away it is from the foundation itself.

If you notice any of these things you might have an issue with your home’s foundation, or at least have reason to inspect further. Some specific things to look out for are doors beginning to stick as you open and close them, cracks of any size in the floor, numerous nails coming out of drywall, and long splits in the brick around your house (if your house has brick). There are both interior and exterior signals; that is the start of a long list of warning signs. If you are worried about damage, give the inside and outside of your house equal attention to find the signs.

The signs of damage can also vary with each type of foundation. There are several common types: crawl space foundations, concrete slab foundations, wood foundations, basements, and stone foundations. Knowing the type your home has will also inform whether the signs of damage should be inspected further.

Regardless of what the problem is, you should not turn a foundation issue into a do it yourself (DIY) project. Without the proper care and attention, these problems can expand, leading to collapsed walls, increased water damage, and a significant decrease in property value for your home. Some local home inspectors will give you an estimate on repair costs at no charge; contacting them is the smartest and safest route to go with any foundational damage. Write down the signs and be as specific as possible with when you noticed them, how they have changed, and where they are located in your home.

At the end of the day, it is better to be safe than sorry when approaching damages to your home. Unless you are an expert, do not consider tackling this issue on your own. Risking the safety of yourself and your family/housemates is not worth saving money on an inspection.

What Can I Use A Trencher For?

A trencher can be a useful tool for your construction needs. Its basic purpose is to, as the name might suggest, dig trenches and move large areas of dirt. If you do not have the help or time to complete a large project, this machine might be the thing to help you complete it in the most time and cost efficient way. If you are considering buying or renting a trencher for your next project, there are several things to consider.

The first consideration is the type of trencher you want. For smaller, confined spaces, you might consider looking into a manual trencher. This is one that you might want to use for shorter projects, as these are not recommended for digging large or deep trenches. If you are looking to create better drainage around your home or garden, a manual trencher could be for you.

For a bigger project, a ride on trencher may be more suitable – ride on trenchers are more efficient and can cut deeper and longer than manual trenches. They are often more comfortable to use while resulting in a higher quality result. Additionally, if you are gardening or landscaping and come across a patch of heavily rooted soils, trenchers can cut through roots and eliminate the need for doing tasks like that by hand.

Be careful to not use your trencher on rocks and concrete before checking that the type you bought or rented can accommodate that task. Do a thorough survey of your project site before buying or renting as well, as the maneuverability of a landscape will greatly impact the type and size of trencher you want.

Due to the wide variety of projects you might need a trencher for, it is recommended that you err on the side of renting over purchasing. The site conditions from project to project can vary drastically, making it a more economically smart decision to rent on a project to project basis based on the physical conditions.

Overall, investing in a trencher for your next irrigation, landscaping, or utility project could save you a great amount of time and money. If you think this tool might be of use to you, contact your local equipment shop and talk through your project with a professional. It might be helpful to go with your desired depth and length of trench, physical limitations of the site, and the goal of the project in mind.

Photo by Daniel Lincoln on Unsplash

What is Dimple Board for Wall Drainage?

When you are laying the foundation for a home, business, or other permanent structure, you need to take steps to make sure the foundation is dry and will stay that way for as long as possible. There are lots of ways to make sure that happens, including choosing your site wisely and using proper grading and site preparation to make sure as little water reaches the base of your structure as possible.

However, keeping your wall and foundation perfectly dry by using those solutions is not possible. One reason is that you don’t always get to choose your building site. The lot is what it is, and only so much can be accomplished through grading and other water diversion efforts. Sometimes you just have to work to turn your foundation wall into a fortress that is prepared to stand up to hydrostatic pressure and surface water.

One solution in this situation is the use of dimple boards such as GeoMat Dimple Board for wall drainage.

What is dimple board?

Dimple board and other similar products are exactly what their name implies. When you look at the material, it is covered with dimples or spots that stick up like small mounds. When dimple board is properly installed against the concrete wall, these dimples help promote the flow of water away from your foundation and the building site, through drainage you have planned in advance.

The dimples and dimple board keep the ground outside awaye from your poured concrete wall, preventing the intrusion of water via hydrostatic pressure.

Where is dimple board installed?

Dimple board and similar construction materials are installed around the exterior of your poured concrete foundation. The board is mechanically affixed to the exterior wall so that it covers the entire wall from the base to the level where your finished foundation will be visible, also known as final grade height.

Permanently fastened by mechanical means including screws or bolts, or with liquid adhesives, there should be a tight bond between the back of the dimple board and the foundation, with no space for rain or below surface water to get in and stand next to the foundation.

This wrapping acts like a raincoat around your foundation. With careful planning and the use of additional waterproofing methods and tools, dimple board can be part of a flawless waterproofing plan for your next project.

Geo-Mat is one example of dimple board or drainage board.

Different Types of Drainage Membranes

When planning any sort of construction project you want to consider carefully how you are going to manage water. For most construction projects, water is at worst an enemy, and at best a problem that needs to be dealt with in order to ensure enjoyment and a long life for your project.

One tool available to help manage water is a category of waterproofing materials called drainage membrane. Drainage membranes might be made of different types of plastics, rubbers, and composite materials. Further, they might be placed inside a project or outside, depending on their exact specifications and what is needed for the work.

Wrapped exterior membranes

One type of drainage membrane wraps around the exterior of a poured concrete wall. In this case the membrane is designed to keep water away from the foundation. It does this by allowing water to flow freely through holes or in air pockets created by dimples in the surface of the material. This flowing water moves quickly away from the surface, keeping the concrete beneath it dry and safe from freezing, cracking, and seeping.

Interior lining membranes

Another type of drainage membrane can go inside an already leaking or seeping foundation. This membrane is not built to protect the foundation, but is instead designed to keep the space inside liveable and mold free. By capturing the water and directing it where it can be managed, like into a fabricated drainage system, water can be directed outside and into sewer or stormwater systems. By controlling water flow, the interior space is kept dry and can be used for whatever the owner wishes: living space for a family, dry storage for a business, or more.

Exterior underlayment

For patios and play surfaces such as football fields, drainage membranes serve an important role that doesn’t necessarily mean keeping things dry. In this treatment, the goal is not to prevent water from reaching an artificial turf surface. Instead, the goal of this underlayment is to absorb and redirect the water to prevent the field or patio from becoming a puddle or a pond. This keeps the space safer by reducing slips and also helps to extend the life of the work.

For your next project, consider how water will affect the work over the lifetime of use, and then choose wisely how you will manage that water. You might find that one of our Mar-Flex drainage membranes is a perfect fit to meet your needs.

A membrane protects the wall behind it. Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash

What is Drain Core

For centuries, builders relied on a mix of tried and true tools to keep buildings and foundations free from water and the damage it does to structures over time. Gravity and porous materials like gravel were the long standing winning combination.

And while gravity remains the undefeated champion in dealing with water – either causing problems or solving them without additional effort or resources – gravel is not always the ideal partner.

In some situations gravel is a poor substrate because the surface is being walked on or used for performing sports. In these cases the gravel underlayment is a poor choice because it can cause injuries or is simply uncomfortable. In other cases, even tightly packed gravel can shift, causing poorer performance and leading to the surface becoming damaged in a particular area over time.

This is where drain core can be useful.

Why is drain core better than gravel?

Drain core is typically made from a rigid plastic that holds its shape over time while providing a slightly more forgiving surface than concrete. This slight yield helps protect athletes while permitting continued drainage under even the most demanding situations.

The best drain core is gentle enough to permit regular use while being tough enough to keep an even flow of water away from the surface and out of the facility.

More importantly, drain core is easier to transport and install than gravel. All the builder needs to do is measure and cut, aligning sheets to make sure the surface is covered. Instead of dozens of trucks pouring gravel that later needs to be pressed or pounded into place, drain core can be laid into position and easily shifted until it is perfectly placed before being secured.

And, in addition to being easier to measure, cut, and install, drain core has been proven to provide superior water flow. That means a drier surface, easier installation, and less maintenance.

For your next project, consider where you might use drain core instead of gravel or even perforated pipe to keep water away from your foundation or off your field.

You will be glad you did.

Drain core close up

Using a Crack Injection Gun for Waterproofing

There are many specialized tools that are used in every trade. Whether you are a fly fisher who needs a special vice to hold tiny lures as you wind them with line, or a construction worker manning the levers of a ten-story crane, your tools help you do a job that few can accomplish.

This is also true about waterproofing the foundations and walls of homes, businesses, warehouses, and schools across southwest Ohio where Mar-Flex has been doing this work for nearly three decades.

Every soil type and building specification requires a unique approach to match the situation. Sometimes the work requires an excavation and the application of an external wrap. Sometimes the work has to be done from inside and requires layers of waterproofing and even channeling to redirect foundational water.

Sometimes, the job requires injecting waterproofing materials deep into walls. This allows you to reach spots and weaknesses not visible to the eye during an inspection. This job requires a crack injection gun.

The crack injection gun has special powers

While it sounds potentially menacing or even dangerous, the crack injection gun is simply a specialized tool to help with waterproofing and dampproofing.

The crack injection gun can take various forms. Most are manually operated and some are open while others, like the one pictured in this article, are largely self-contained.

Using this tool, your expert waterproofing team can push or “inject” caulk into cracks and seams. The use of additional force, provided by hand leverage, forces the waterproofing caulk or sealant into spots that simply can not be seen by the naked eye.

Careful application of sealant into every available spot can allow the transformation of a wall. A surface that was once porous and allowed water to seep through into a foundation or basement can be rendered largely waterproof. This can bring thousands of dollars of value and years of enjoyment to a space.

Using the right tools is important if you want to do a job well. Make sure that you have those tools at your disposal when you start your next major project.

Or go a step further and hire the seasoned professionals who have those tools to do the job expertly the first time. Consider calling Mar-Flex for your next project.

Crack injection gun. Photo provided.