Drainage and Waterproofing Orlando
Foundation Masters provides homeowners, condominium boards and commercial property managers in Orlando with engineer designed solutions to stop flooding, water intrusion, hydrostatic pressure and soil erosion.
Orlando has no coast, no tide and no river running to the sea. It also has basins that do not drain anywhere at all. The city solved that by drilling roughly 150 wells into the aquifer. That tells you everything about what drainage means here.
We are a licensed Florida engineering firm and a repair contractor in the same company, and we were the first engineering firm to pioneer the waterproofing industry in Florida. Qualifying work carries a lifetime transferable warranty.
Contractor Execution With Engineering Behind It
Foundation Masters is a licensed Florida engineering firm, CA# 30969, and a structural repair contractor. We work throughout Orlando and Orange County on single family homes, townhomes and duplexes, condominium and association owned buildings, and commercial property from strip retail to warehouse and industrial sites.
The work is usually standing water that will not leave, moisture coming up through a slab, hydrostatic pressure against below grade concrete, a lower level or garage deck that takes water every wet season, soil disappearing rather than pooling, or the water half of a problem somebody has already been told is a foundation problem.
The difference is not the trench or the membrane. The difference is deciding what is actually wrong before anything is installed, and establishing whether the water has anywhere to go. We pair contractor work with in house civil engineering in Orlando, geotechnical engineering and structural engineering, so the diagnosis, the sealed design and the installation come from one accountable party rather than three.
Central Florida also asks a question the coast does not. Here water that leaves the surface is going into limestone, and limestone has voids in it. That changes what a good drainage design is trying to achieve.
- Licensed Florida engineering firm, CA# 30969, with contractor execution in the same company, so nobody waits on a third party for a sealed drawing.
- The first engineering firm to pioneer the waterproofing industry in Florida, which is a different starting point from a landscaping crew selling trench work.
- The Seal Tight Waterproofing System, engineered to resist hydrostatic pressure rather than shed incidental moisture.
- We understand what a landlocked basin means for a private lot, which is the thing most contractors here never account for.
- We tell you when the answer is drainage and not foundation repair in Orlando, which costs us the larger job and is the right call more often than the industry admits.
- Soil borings and subsurface investigation, which in karst country is how you find out what is under you before you concentrate water into it.
- Engineered discharge design rather than a pipe that ends somewhere hopeful, including sump and pumped discharge where gravity will not do it.
- Sheet piling and cutoff walls in the same company where groundwater or subgrade control demands them.
- Lifetime transferable warranty on qualifying work. Full terms on our warranties page.
Why Drainage and Waterproofing in Orlando Is So Critical
Orlando gets plenty of rain. Measurements at Orlando Executive Airport put annual totals between roughly 45 and 64 inches across the 2010 to 2023 period, with 2023 at 52.5 inches. That is close to the Florida statewide average, and much of it arrives in a concentrated wet season in storms that are short and intense.
The volume is ordinary. What is not ordinary is where it can go. Orlando sits on a drainage divide, inland, with no coast and no river carrying water to the sea. The City of Orlando puts it plainly in its own comprehensive plan documents: many of the basins are landlocked and rely entirely on lake storage, augmented by drainage wells.
Which brings us to the wells. The City has approximately 150 drainage wells, which take stormwater and lake overflow and inject it into the Upper Floridan Aquifer. The city states that many areas around the lakes near downtown Orlando would be flooded if not for them, and the USGS has documented hundreds of millions of gallons of stormwater recharging the aquifers annually through drainage wells in Orange County.
Read that as a homeowner and it lands differently. In most cities the municipal answer to where stormwater goes is a pipe to a river or the sea. In Orlando the answer is a hole in the ground going down into the aquifer, because there is no lower place to send it sideways. The ground is not a backup plan here. The ground is already the disposal system, and it is shared.
That has a second consequence. In a landlocked basin the lake is the storage, so lake stage is the controlling elevation for everything around it. When the lake is up after a wet week, the ground beside it is up too, and a drain on a nearby lot has nowhere to discharge because the destination is already full.
And underneath all of it is limestone with solution features in it. Check your flood risk on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center or through Orange County flood resources before you spend anything.
Investigation & Diagnosis
Site survey and grade check, moisture testing at the slab, groundwater depth, review of the existing storm system and the basin it sits in, and a written engineering opinion that names the mechanism before anybody quotes a trench.
Engineered Drainage
Collection, conveyance and a discharge point that has been verified to work at the elevations that actually occur, including sump and pumped discharge where gravity will not do it.
Below Grade Waterproofing
The Seal Tight Waterproofing System applied to below grade concrete and footings, so the slab and the wall are decoupled from groundwater rather than merely surrounded by a pipe.
In Orlando There Is No Outfall.
Every drainage design in the world ends with the same question. Where does the water go? On the coast the answer is a bay, a canal or the Gulf, and the honest problem is that the outfall can be under water at high tide. Inland in Orlando the answer is harder, because for a great many properties there is no outfall at all.
A landlocked basin does not drain anywhere. Water that falls in it stays in it, held in the lakes, until it either evaporates, soaks down, or gets pushed into the aquifer through a well. That is not a criticism of the system. It is a reasonable engineering response to a city built on a drainage divide. But it means the phrase most contractors use, we will run it away from the house, has to be finished properly here. Away to where?
So the sequence in Orlando is not collect, convey, discharge. It is find out what basin you are in, find out what the controlling elevation is, and only then decide what the system looks like. On a lot with real fall to a functioning storm connection, a conventional design works. On a landlocked lot beside a lake that is already high, collection without a destination just relocates the puddle, and a pipe trenched into saturated ground is a pipe full of groundwater.
There is one more reason to be careful here that does not apply on the coast. Under Central Florida the rock is limestone with solution features in it, and the way soil gets into those voids is by being carried there by moving water. Concentrating a large volume of runoff into a single point on a karst lot is not a neutral act. Spreading it, slowing it, and giving it a controlled path matters more here than anywhere else in the state.
Which is why the first thing worth paying for is not a trench. It is somebody establishing where the water actually can go, and being straight with you when the answer is nowhere.
Parking Garage Waterproofing in Orlando
A below grade parking level sits in the groundwater rather than above it, so it behaves less like a building and more like the hull of a boat. Water presses against it continuously, and the only question is whether the assembly that was supposed to hold that pressure is still doing it.
Two things nobody tells the owner. Where the water appears inside the garage is frequently not where it got through the assembly, because water travels laterally between the membrane and the concrete before it finds a way in. And the standard repair treats the symptom rather than the defect: epoxy or urethane injected from the dry side, or a crystalline coating brushed on the inside face, because excavating to reach the original exterior waterproofing gets called cost prohibitive. Water then migrates to the next available path and the injection gets repeated. That is why nobody warranties an injection for the life of a structure. You cannot warranty a symptom.
We work the positive side, the face groundwater actually touches, and then engineer the discharge so the structure is not asked to hold back a standing head of water indefinitely. Corrected that way it carries a lifetime transferable warranty. If you need the structure assessed rather than the water stopped, that is a different service and it lives on our parking garage inspection in Orlando and high rise building inspection pages.
Orlando and Orange County
The useful question in Central Florida is not which neighborhood you are in. It is which basin you are in, and whether that basin has anywhere to send water.
Downtown & the Lake District
Downtown, Lake Eola Heights, Thornton Park, Colonialtown, Delaney Park and the older neighborhoods built around the chain of urban lakes.
This is drainage well country. The city states that many areas around these lakes would flood without them. Lake stage is the controlling elevation, and older housing stock sits on shallow footings close to it.
Winter Park, Maitland & the North Side
Winter Park, Maitland, Altamonte Springs, Eatonville and the established communities along the lakes north of the city.
Mature landscaping, lakefront lots, and the part of Central Florida with the longest documented history of solution features in the underlying limestone.
Lake Nona, Southeast Orange & the New Growth
Lake Nona, Medical City, Hunters Creek, Meadow Woods and the developed corridors south and east toward the airport.
Newer construction on engineered fill and retention systems, where the question is usually whether the stormwater system is performing as designed rather than whether one exists.
West Orange & Osceola
Winter Garden, Ocoee, Apopka, Clermont, Kissimmee and the communities out toward the ridge and the Kissimmee basin.
Sandier ridge soils in places, organic ground in the old floodplain in others. See Kissimmee for what happens where the basin was drained and rebuilt.
Signs You Need Drainage and Waterproofing in Orlando
- Standing water or soggy yards that linger for days after storms.
- Buckled wood floors or tile popping from slab moisture.
- Water stains or efflorescence along baseboards and walls.
- Mildew odor or visible mold near slab edges.
- Driveway or parking lot flooding that drains slowly.
- Carpet or flooring adhesive failing in one area of a room and nowhere else.
- A drain or sump that was installed and did not fix the problem.
- A depression, soft spot or sudden sag opening in a yard or driveway. In karst country that one gets looked at quickly.
- Water that disappears somewhere rather than pooling, particularly if it always disappears in the same place.
- Soil washing out from beside a driveway, a walkway or a slab edge.
- Downspouts discharging within a few feet of the foundation, or one downspout carrying most of a roof.
- Cracking or settlement that appeared after a wet season, which may be a foundation repair question as well as a drainage one.
The two on this list that matter most in Central Florida are the ones about ground going down and water going somewhere. Both mean material is moving, and material only moves because water is carrying it.
Our Proven Orlando Waterproofing and Drainage Solutions
Foundation Masters developed the first true engineered waterproofing system in Florida to solve these issues. The process is:
- Excavating a trench roughly twelve inches below the slab edge to expose the footer and the wall.
- Applying the Seal Tight Waterproofing System to protect below grade concrete and footings.
- Designing engineered drainage piping or sump discharge to redirect water away from the structure and the underlying soils, to a discharge point that has been verified.
- Installing gutters and grading corrections to control surface runoff at the source.
Alongside that, depending on what the investigation finds: parking lot drainage repair including catch basin rebuilds and storm pipe replacement, subgrade stabilization, compaction and pressure grouting where washout has left voids, retaining wall work where grade has to be held, and coordination with house leveling or structural repair where movement has already happened.
We do not install French drains. A French drain trenched into Central Florida ground frequently sits in the water table rather than above it, so the pipe is full before the first storm arrives. It works only if it can daylight to a genuine outfall lower than the pipe, or if it is mechanically pumped. In a landlocked basin that first option often does not exist, which is exactly why we establish the discharge before designing anything.
Common Questions About Drainage and Waterproofing in Orlando
Why does my yard flood even with drains installed?
Because a drain is a path to somewhere lower, not a place to store water, and in Orlando there is frequently nowhere lower to reach. Flat terrain, lake levels that rise with the wet season, and shallow groundwater mean the soil is already saturated and the destination is already full. In a landlocked basin that is not a fault in the drain. It is the basin.
What is a drainage well and why does Orlando have so many?
A drainage well takes stormwater and lake overflow and injects it into the Upper Floridan Aquifer, because Orlando sits on a drainage divide with no coast and no river to the sea. The City of Orlando reports approximately 150 of them and states that many areas around the lakes near downtown would flood without them. The USGS has documented hundreds of millions of gallons of stormwater recharging the aquifers annually through drainage wells in Orange County. It matters to a property owner because it means the ground here is not a backup plan for excess water. It is already the disposal system.
Why is my slab letting moisture through?
Many older homes were built with slabs at or near grade. When the water table rises after a wet week it contacts the slab directly, degrading vapor barriers and wicking moisture up through the concrete. Concrete is porous. Without a functioning barrier beneath it and protection at the edge, it will move moisture upward continuously.
Can you waterproof an existing home in Orlando?
Yes. Our Seal Tight System is engineered to resist hydrostatic pressure and keep slabs dry. On an existing house the work is done from outside, by excavating to expose the footer and the below grade wall, treating that surface, and then handling the water that will keep arriving.
Does drainage help with sinkhole risk in Central Florida?
It helps, and it is worth being precise about how. The mechanism in karst is soil being carried down into voids that already exist in the limestone, and moving water is what carries it. Controlling where water goes, and particularly not concentrating a large volume into one point on the lot, removes the thing doing the transporting. It does not remove the voids and it is not a guarantee. Anybody promising sinkhole prevention is overselling. What proper water control does is stop feeding a process you would rather not accelerate.
My lot is next to a lake. Does that change anything?
Considerably. In a landlocked basin the lake is the storage for the whole basin, so lake stage becomes the controlling elevation for the ground around it. When the lake is up after a wet week, the groundwater beside it is up too, and a drain on your lot has nowhere to discharge because the destination is already high. Any design near a lake has to be checked against the elevations that actually occur, not the ones on a dry day.
Do you handle commercial parking lot drainage problems?
Absolutely. We repair and retrofit catch basins, storm pipes and subgrade failures for retail centers, associations and industrial facilities across Orlando and Orange County, and we handle below grade and lower level parking structures. On commercial property the failure is rarely the pavement, it is the subgrade underneath it, which fails because water has been sitting in it or moving through it for years.
Does Florida require my slab to sit a certain height above grade?
Not statewide, and this surprises people. Outside a flood hazard area the Florida Building Code sets no minimum finished floor elevation above adjacent grade, and elevation certification is required only inside flood hazard areas. In a flood zone the lowest floor must reach base flood elevation plus one foot under R322.2.1, with an elevation certificate at lowest floor placement and again at final inspection. Orange County and the municipalities set their own requirements, so check the local rule rather than assuming a state one exists.
Why does Florida have no waterproofing code?
Because the model code writes the requirement around below grade enclosed space, and Florida builds on slabs. Section R405 of the International Residential Code requires a foundation drain only where a foundation both retains earth and encloses habitable or usable space below grade, so a slab house never triggers it. What remains is Section R401.3, a grading rule about the yard. There is no prescriptive standard for keeping water out of a Florida slab, which is precisely the gap we built a system to fill.
Do you install French drains?
No, and we are direct about why. A French drain trenched into Central Florida ground frequently sits in the water table rather than above it, which means the pipe is already full before the first storm arrives. A pipe sitting in groundwater is not carrying anything anywhere. It works only if there is a genuine outfall lower than the pipe so it can daylight, or if it is mechanically pumped. The model code says the same thing when it requires foundation drainage to discharge by gravity or mechanical means, and in a landlocked basin the gravity option frequently does not exist.
Is there a vapor retarder under my slab?
On an older Orlando house, quite possibly not, or not one still doing anything. Modern practice is a sheet meeting ASTM E1745, which caps water vapor permeance at 0.1 perms, and the 2021 International Residential Code raised the residential requirement to a minimum ten mil Class A sheet with six inch lapped joints. Houses built before that thinking took hold may have a thin sheet that was punctured during construction, or nothing at all. It cannot be retrofitted under an existing slab, which is why the work is done at the edge and below grade instead.
What does drainage and waterproofing work cost in Orlando?
It varies with the length of wall or slab edge involved, how deep the footer sits, groundwater depth, whether a gravity discharge exists or a pumped system is required, how much material has already been lost, site access, and the engineering scope. Depth and discharge are usually the two variables that move the number most, and inland the discharge question is the one that most often changes the design. We inspect at no charge and give you a written scope rather than a figure over the phone.
Parking Lot Drainage and Commercial Waterproofing in Orlando
We repair and retrofit parking lot drainage systems, rebuilding catch basins, replacing storm piping and stabilizing subgrades for shopping centers, associations and industrial sites, including sheet piling and cutoff walls where groundwater or subgrade control requires it.
On commercial property the failure is rarely the pavement. It is the subgrade under the pavement, which fails because water has been sitting in it or moving through it for years. Repaving over that produces a lot that looks correct for two seasons and then repeats. On a large Central Florida site there is a second reason to investigate first, which is that a parking field concentrates an enormous volume of runoff into a small number of points, and in karst that is worth doing deliberately rather than by accident.
Learn more about our parking lot drainage services and our commercial foundation repair in Orlando.
Engineering Capabilities That Strengthen the Work
This page focuses on drainage and waterproofing in Orlando, but the surrounding disciplines are what let us diagnose a harder site correctly:
- Geotechnical Engineer Orlando
- Civil Engineer Orlando
- Structural Engineer Orlando
- Geotechnical Engineering Florida
- Soil Borings
- Parking Garage Inspection Orlando
- Retaining Wall Contractor Orlando
- Flood Asset Protection
- Luxury New Construction Orlando
Planning a new build? Engineered drainage and waterproofing are designed in from day one rather than added after the first wet season.
Related Pages
These pages cover the rest of our drainage and waterproofing work while this page remains our main destination for drainage and waterproofing in Orlando.
Get a Drainage and Waterproofing Inspection in Orlando
Because Florida has no prescriptive waterproofing code for a slab on grade, you need people who understand local soils, a fluctuating water table, karst geology and storm driven pressures, and who will establish where the water can actually go before selling you a way to collect it. Our engineers provide free inspections and permanent solutions backed by a lifetime transferable warranty on qualifying work.
If your yard holds water after every storm, your floors are cupping over a slab, a drain somebody installed has not solved anything, a parking lot ponds where it used to drain, or ground has started going down somewhere on the property, start with a diagnosis rather than a product. Call (813) 614-1718 or (656) 233-7089 for direct help with flooding, moisture intrusion or drainage system failure.
Find the Water. Give It Somewhere to Go. Keep It Out of the Concrete.
Whether it is a downtown lot beside a lake that will not drain, a slab moving moisture into finished floors, a retail parking field ponding after every storm, a lower level that takes water each wet season, or a soft spot opening in a yard, Foundation Masters brings contractor execution with engineering behind it.
Built on real diagnosis, technical depth, and clean execution.