Two older basement windows replaced with 32-by-14-inch Duo-Corp double-sliding Low-E units in Davenport, Iowa, plus an exterior foundation crack repair carried out beneath one of the openings during the same visit.

Project photos

Project overview

A homeowner in Davenport, Iowa called Behncke Construction about two separate basement problems, and the crew handled both on the same project. The home’s two older basement windows were removed and replaced with new 32″ × 14″ Duo-Corp double-sliding Low-E units, and a foundation crack located beneath one of the windows was repaired at the same time.

Project details

The window work involved removing the existing units and setting the new double-sliding sashes into the openings, then sealing around the perimeter. Rather than treat the crack only from the visible side inside the basement, the crew excavated along the foundation so the crack could be reached and repaired directly from the exterior — the face where water would otherwise start working its way into the wall.

Once the below-grade work was finished, the excavation was backfilled and tamped and the bed along the house restored.

What homeowners should know

The lesson worth taking from a project like this one is about sequencing. Any repair that reaches below grade means opening the ground along the foundation, and that excavation is usually the most disruptive and most expensive part of the job — not the repair itself. So when more than one issue sits in the same zone of the wall, it is generally worth addressing them together rather than in separate visits months apart.

It is also common for water problems and window problems to turn up in the same stretch of wall, simply because a window opening is a break in an otherwise continuous foundation. That does not mean one caused the other. It does mean that if you are already planning to replace basement windows, it is a sensible moment to have the wall around and below them looked at. Our Learning Center explains how exterior waterproofing works and how to judge whether a crack needs attention.

Photo highlights

• Sealing the perimeter of a newly installed slider window from the outside.
• Work underway on the foundation wall from inside the open excavation.
• The new windows in place with the excavation backfilled and the mulch bed restored.
• A new double-sliding unit set into the foundation opening.
• The same opening from a slightly different angle outside.
• The new unit seen from inside the basement.
• The sealed perimeter and framing around the new unit, from inside.
• A new window unit coming off the work truck.
• Backfilling and tamping along the foundation once the below-grade work was done.

Related services

• Basement Waterproofing
• Foundation Repair
• Foundation Repair & Waterproofing in Davenport
• More recent project updates