Limited lifetime. Workmanship. In writing.

The promise, in one sentence

Waterproofing Northeast offers a limited lifetime warranty on workmanship for all interior and exterior waterproofing services we install. If a failure occurs due to improper installation under normal use, we correct the issue at no cost.

Services the warranty covers

The workmanship warranty applies to these installation categories:

Products vs workmanship: two warranties, not one

The WPNE warranty covers our work. The products themselves (sump pumps, battery backups, sealants) are covered separately by their manufacturers' warranties, which we hand to you at the time of installation. If a Zoeller pump fails inside its manufacturer warranty window, that is a manufacturer claim, not a WPNE workmanship claim. We can usually help you process either kind, but they are legally separate documents covering different things.

What the warranty does not cover

We are direct about exclusions because that is what an honest warranty does. The fine print and the customer-facing summary should match. Ours do.

When something falls outside the warranty, we still answer the phone. We will walk you through what is happening, refer you to the right trade if it is not ours, and quote any additional scope honestly. The warranty is the part that is free; the goodwill is the part that comes with being family-owned.

An important note on exterior surface drainage

Surface water management solutions like grading, French drains, and roof runoff systems are effective tools, but not standalone guarantees against basement water intrusion. They can reduce moisture at the foundation level, but they should be understood as pieces of a holistic solution. Interior water management may still be required to fully resolve seepage, hydrostatic pressure, or foundation leakage.

Warranty coverage for exterior surface drainage applies to the workmanship of the install itself, not to water entry caused by external factors beyond our control. If we install a yard French drain and the buried pipe later collapses because of our work, that is covered. If we install the same French drain and your basement still seeps because the actual mechanism was sub-slab hydrostatic pressure that needs interior drain tile, that is a scope-of-work conversation, not a warranty failure.

We tell you this up front at the inspection. The honest answer for some basements is that surface drainage alone will not solve it. We will not sell you a partial fix and call it the whole answer.

How transferability works when you sell

The warranty transfers to the next homeowner if you sell, but the transfer requires written notice to Waterproofing Northeast within 30 days of property transfer. There is no fee for the transfer. The cleanest way to handle it is to include the warranty document in your closing paperwork and have the buyer (or their agent) email us at info@waterproofingne.comafter closing with the new owner's name and contact. We log it, coverage continues uninterrupted.

The 30-day window matters. If no one notifies us within that window, the transfer may not be honored. So if you are selling, do not let the paperwork get lost. If you are buying a home with a WPNE-installed system, ask the seller for the warranty document at closing and notify us within 30 days. We will look up the install by property address either way.

In practice the transferable warranty is a real resale benefit. A buyer comparing two otherwise-equivalent homes is more comfortable bidding on the one whose basement work carries a transferable warranty than the one whose work was done by a contractor whose warranty stopped at closing.

How to file a warranty claim

The actual document requires written notice and supporting photos to initiate a claim. We then inspect and determine whether the issue qualifies. Step by step:

1. Take photos before you clean up. Where the water is, how much, whether it appears to be coming through the wall, the slab, the cove joint, or rising out of the sump. Same photo logic as an insurance claim.
2. Submit written notice with the photos. Email us at info@waterproofingne.com with the address, the date the issue appeared, what you are seeing, and the photos attached. A phone call is fine too at (612) 888-6743, but the written record is what gets the claim started formally.
3. We come inspect. A WPNE crew lead walks the basement with you and determines whether the issue is within the warranty scope.
4. We tell you what we see. If it is within scope, we fix it at no cost. If it is outside scope (a new area, an excluded cause, or a product defect that belongs to a manufacturer claim), we tell you that plainly and quote any additional work.
5. We schedule the repair. Warranty work gets on the calendar without re-negotiating anything.

Common questions

Do I need to register the warranty?

Not for the original install. We log it in our records when we close the job, and the warranty is active from the day we leave. The only registration step is the transfer step when a property changes hands: written notice to us within 30 days of property transfer keeps coverage alive for the new owner.

Is this the same as the manufacturer warranty on my sump pump?

No. They are separate documents covering different things. The WPNE workmanship warranty covers our installation. The sump pump itself, the battery backup, and any sealants we used are covered by their own manufacturer warranties, which we provide to you at the time of installation. The two warranties run on different clocks and cover different failure modes. If you are not sure which one applies to a problem, call us; we will help you sort it out.

What if my sump pump dies during a power outage?

A standalone sump pump install is covered for workmanship only. Power-outage failure is not a warranty event because it is not a workmanship failure; it is an electrical-grid failure that the pump cannot operate through. That is exactly the case battery backup pumps and water-powered backups are designed for, and we strongly recommend a backup on any system installed below the natural water table. Get our take on the battery vs water-powered question in our backup pump article.

Does the warranty cover my finished basement if drywall has to come out for a repair?

The warranty covers the waterproofing repair itself. If accessing the system requires removing finishes a homeowner installed after our work, the finish removal and reinstall is typically the homeowner's expense or the homeowner's insurance claim, depending on the situation. We always discuss this up front when we quote any work in a finished basement so you know which way the responsibility falls before anyone starts cutting.

Where do I get a copy of the actual warranty document?

You get the signed warranty document at the end of your install along with the rest of your job paperwork. If you have lost your copy, call us and we will email you a fresh one. If you are a new homeowner who inherited the warranty from a previous owner, the same applies; we keep records by property address. You can also read the full warranty document here (PDF).

What happens if WPNE goes out of business?

Family-owned, MN Contractor License IR802718, bonded and insured, operating since 2018, no plans to disappear. The honest answer for any waterproofer is the same though: a warranty is only as good as the company behind it. We answer the phone, we still send the crew, and we are not for sale to a private-equity roll-up. If anything material about the company changed, customers under warranty would be notified in writing first.