Crownstone Group

Crownstone Group We deal with wherever you DON'T want water.

If your basement was a boat, would it stay afloat?We use this analogy because it makes waterproofing much easier to unde...
08/10/2026

If your basement was a boat, would it stay afloat?

We use this analogy because it makes waterproofing much easier to understand.

A boat is built to keep water out. But every good boat also has a plan for the day water gets in. That's why they have bilge pumps.

A basement should be designed the same way.

You need to stop rainwater getting in from above. You need to deal with groundwater pressing against the structure. And if water ever finds a way through, the system needs a safe way to manage and remove it before it causes some serious damage.

That's why good waterproofing isn't about installing a membrane and hoping for the best.

It's about understanding how water behaves, where it's coming from and designing a system that can cope with it over the life of the building.

We've seen plenty of basements that looked waterproof on paper but had no real strategy for managing water. That's when the problems start.

If you wouldn't trust a boat without a way of dealing with water ingress, don't trust a basement without one either.

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Crownstone can assess your waterproofing strategy, identify where the risks are and design a system that manages water for the long term.

[email protected] | 020 8226 5654

06/10/2026

Water has a habit of finding its way into places it shouldn’t 💧

We’re seeing more enquiries from property owners and managers dealing with water ingress caused by burst water mains and leaks that have gone unnoticed or unresolved for too long.

Ageing water infrastructure remains an issue across the UK, and when a leak happens close to a property, the effects can extend well beyond just a wet pavement.

Water can find its way through foundations, walls and other vulnerable areas of the building fabric. Left unresolved, that can lead to damp, mould, damaged finishes and more extensive remedial work.

The key is understanding exactly where the water is coming from and how it’s entering the building before deciding how to fix it.

At Crownstone, we investigate the cause first, then recommend the right solution for the building rather than pushing a particular product or system.

If your property has been affected by a mains leak or unexplained water ingress, get in touch with us today.

📞 020 8226 5654

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From diagnosis through to remedial works, Crownstone helps you find the source of water ingress and put it right.

[email protected] | 020 8226 5654

29/09/2026

If you're building a basement in London, you need to think like a river.

Most people see roads, buildings and pavements.

We see water.

Long before London existed, water carved routes through the landscape. Many of those routes are still there today. Some flow through rivers you can see. Others move underground through soils, gravels and geological layers beneath the city.

That matters when you're planning a basement.

A site can look dry on the surface but still sit within the path of moving groundwater. Once excavation starts, that water has somewhere new to go.

We've seen projects where the challenge wasn't a high water table. It was the volume of water moving through the ground beneath the site.

That's why we spend so much time understanding the geology before construction begins.

Where is the water coming from?

Where is it trying to go?

What happens when we put a basement in its way?

Answer those questions early and you can design the right waterproofing and dewatering strategy from the start.

Ignore them and the ground will remind you who's in charge.

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Crownstone, dealing with wherever you don't want water in a building.

After all, 60% of your body is water - your building shouldn't be. Follow us for more!

[email protected] | 020 8226 5654

24/09/2026

Podium decks cause more waterproofing failures than most people realise.

A podium deck is the surface that sits above a basement structure. In a house, that might be a patio or garden. In a commercial building, it could be a courtyard, car park or landscaped area.

On the surface, they look straightforward.

They aren't.

A roof only has to deal with water from above. A basement has to deal with water from the ground.

A podium deck has to cope with both.

Water can attack from the top, the sides and around every pe*******on, joint and interface. Add drainage, landscaping, paving, lighting, handrails and service routes into the mix and the detailing becomes far more complex.

That's where many projects come unstuck.

The leaks we investigate rarely happen because the waterproofing material failed.

More often, someone missed a detail during design, selected the wrong system, or treated the deck like a roof when it needed a waterproofing strategy designed for below-ground structures.

By the time water appears inside the basement, the real problem has usually been there for years.

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Crownstone - Dealing with wherever you don't want water.

[email protected] | 020 8226 5654

22/09/2026

Water stopping and waterproofing are not the same thing 🙅‍♂️

We often get called to basements where water is already pouring through cracks, joints or defects in the structure.

At that stage, you can't install a waterproofing system straight onto a wet, leaking surface.

First, you need to stop the water.

We inject specialist resins into the points of ingress, filling the pathways that the water is using. As the resin expands and cures, the flow slows down and eventually stops.

That gives us a stable, dry environment to work in.

But water stopping is only the emergency repair.

The water is no longer coming through, but the building still needs a waterproofing strategy that can manage water pressure over the long term.

That's where waterproofing begins.

Water stopping deals with the symptom.

Waterproofing deals with the cause.

Get those two confused, and you'll often find yourself fixing the same leak twice.

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We are Crownstone, dealing with wherever you don't want water!

60% of your body is water - your building shouldn't be.

Follow us for more.

17/09/2026

We often compare a basement to a boat.

Both are surrounded by water at some point, and both need a strategy for dealing with it.

A boat has two jobs. Keep water out. If water gets in, get it out before it becomes a problem.

Basement waterproofing follows the same logic.

We design systems to resist pressure pushing against floors and walls, but we also assume that no system is infallible. That's why good waterproofing includes a contingency plan.

The mistake many people make is focusing only on the water below ground.

Water from above can be just as destructive.

The best designs don't rely on a single line of defence.

They combine protection, drainage and redundancy so the building can cope when conditions change.

That's how ships are built.

It's also how basements should be built.

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We at Crownstone I deal with wherever you don't want water in a building.

After all, 60% of your body is water - your building shouldn't be.

Follow us for more!

We often get involved after a waterproofing problem has appeared 🤦‍♂️A leaking basement.A failed podium deck.A plant roo...
15/09/2026

We often get involved after a waterproofing problem has appeared 🤦‍♂️

A leaking basement.
A failed podium deck.
A plant room taking on water.

By that point, the discussion usually revolves around remediation, disruption and cost.

The better conversation happens much earlier.

Waterproofing isn't something that should be bolted onto a project once the design is complete. The decisions made during the concept and design stages often determine whether a structure performs as intended years later.

Ground conditions, groundwater risk, contaminants, intended use, maintenance access and future servicing all need consideration WAY before construction starts.

The projects that tend to perform best are the ones where waterproofing forms part of the conversation from the beginning, not the end.

We've put together a short guide covering some of the key reasons why early specialist involvement makes such a difference ➡️

We'd love to hear from architects, engineers, developers and contractors:
At what stage do you typically bring a waterproofing specialist into a project?

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Crownstone - Dealing with wherever you don't want water.

[email protected] | 020 8226 5654

We've looked at a lot of damp problems over the years.One thing we've learnt is that water rarely makes life easy.The st...
10/09/2026

We've looked at a lot of damp problems over the years.

One thing we've learnt is that water rarely makes life easy.

The stain you can see is often nowhere near the defect causing it.

The mould on the wall is often the result of a problem hidden somewhere else.

And two properties showing the same symptoms can require completely different solutions.

That's why we've kept a close eye on the rise of AI-generated damp reports.

We use technology every day at Crownstone.
- Moisture meters
- Thermal imaging
- Data loggers

And plenty more specialist equipment, that helps us understand what's happening inside a building.

The concern isn't technology or AI.

The concern is diagnosis.

Surveying isn't about producing a report.

It's about investigating a building, understanding how water behaves, challenging assumptions and finding the real cause of the issue.

AI can help organise information.
AI can help write reports.

AI can't however inspect a building, trace moisture pathways and it certainly can't be held accountable when a diagnosis is wrong.

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Crownstone - Dealing with wherever you don't want water.

[email protected] | 020 8226 5654

One of these flats was suffering significant water ingress despite having a relatively new waterproofing system installe...
08/09/2026

One of these flats was suffering significant water ingress despite having a relatively new waterproofing system installed.

The membrane became the prime suspect 🔍

But the membrane wasn't actually the problem.

The real defect sat in the surrounding construction. Water was entering saturated parapet walls, bypassing the waterproofing layer and tracking into the podium deck below.

This is one of the most common mistakes we see with podium decks.

People treat them like roofs.

Repeat after us: They aren't roofs.

They're high-risk structures that need to be considered as part of the waterproofing strategy from the start.

Take a look at how we fixed the problem ➡️

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If you have a podium deck and are experiencing these kinds of issues, we can help!

[email protected] | 020 8226 5654

Crownstone - Dealing with wherever you don't want water.

03/09/2026

ICYMI we posted a video where some GENIUS decided to drill 7/8 holes into a wall, slap a vent on it and call it an air brick 🤦‍♂️

Yes, buildings need ventilation. We produce a huge amount of moisture through existing: cooking, showering, drying clothes and even breathing.

If that moisture can't escape, condensation and mould soon follow.

But ventilation only works when it's designed properly.

In this property, someone had installed the "air brick" in one of the coldest corners of the building. That's exactly where warm, moisture-laden air is most likely to condense.

Then there's the size of the opening.

Drilling a handful of 10mm holes through a wall isn't ventilation. If you're going to install an air brick, the opening wants to be around the size of an A5 sheet of paper. Otherwise, you're not moving enough air to make a meaningful difference.

Good ventilation reduces moisture.

Bad ventilation moves the problem somewhere else.

Before you start drilling holes in your walls, work out where the cold spots are and understand how air is moving through the building.

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We are Crownstone, dealing with wherever you don't want water!

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