Drainage Solutions
in Clearbrook, BC

Clearbrook is one of the older residential communities in Abbotsford, developed as a distinct Mennonite farming settlement before being absorbed into the modern city. The residential areas of Clearbrook have housing stock from the 1950s through the 1970s on relatively flat terrain with heavy clay soils — conditions very similar to the older Fraser Valley communities we serve throughout the Lower Mainland. Crawlspace moisture and mold issues are common in this housing stock, which was built to the standards of its era.

Drainage problems in crawlspaces have two distinct origins: water that arrives from outside (surface runoff, failed exterior drainage, high water table) and water that condenses from the air inside the crawlspace onto cooler surfaces. The solutions for each are different, and correctly diagnosing which problem you have — or which combination — is the critical first step. Applying interior drainage solutions to an exterior water problem provides partial relief at best; addressing the exterior source is far more effective and usually less disruptive.

Interior drainage systems — perimeter drain tile installed inside the crawlspace along the base of the stem wall — are the right solution when exterior work is impractical (due to finished landscaping, hardscaping, or very tight site conditions) or when the primary issue is groundwater rising from below rather than surface water entering through the wall. Interior drain tile channels water to a sump pit where a pump removes it. This approach does not stop water from entering the foundation, but it manages it effectively once it does.