There are two reasons why hydraulic tamping is important for your new window well: preventing the dirt from settling and minimizing water intrusion.
But first, what is hydraulic tamping?
In the simplest terms, tamping is packing down dirt. In our case, it’s packing down the dirt around a new egress window well. When we dig the hole for a window well, we dig out about 6 inches extra on each side so that we have enough room to install the precast concrete walls of the window well.
After the walls are securely bolted to the foundation, we then pack in the dirt around the window well with a hydraulic tamper. A hydraulic tamper has a little “foot” at the bottom that moves up and down, tightly packing the dirt around the outside of the window well. It’s connected to the hydraulic system of our skid steer.
Prevent Settling Dirt
Settling dirt is an issue from both a cosmetic standpoint and for functional reasons.
If the dirt isn’t compacted properly, it might look fine at first. But over time, the dirt will settle around the window well, leaving an unsightly trench. If you have a carefully manicured lawn or neatly xeriscaped landscaping, you don’t want a slowly deepening trench around your window well.
Besides looking ugly, it will also act as a rain water basin, collecting water and encouraging it to slowly seep down around the window well and foundation.
This is the exact opposite of what you want around your window well. You want positive drainage that encourages water to move away from your window well and home foundation before soaking into the soil.
Minimize Water Intrusion
The number one enemy of egress window wells–and basements in general–is moisture issues. We do a number of things to prevent moisture from being an issue with our window wells, and hydraulic tamping is an important one.
Without proper tamping, uncompacted areas essentially form water channels. When it rains, moisture can find its way through these uncompacted areas, seeping down to the bottom of the window well walls. This water can then either seep inside the window well, or down around your basement foundation.
Neither option is desirable for keeping your basement dry and healthy.
Enhance Structural Stability
Hydraulic tamping does a great job of locking the walls of the egress window well into place. Because the dirt is packed in tightly around the outside of the window well, it helps minimize any shifting of the window well.
Nobody Else Does It
To our knowledge, we’re the only egress window well installer in Kansas using a hydraulic tamper.
As the number one egress window well installer in Central Kansas and Wichita, it’s extremely important to us to maintain a reputation for quality. Using a hydraulic tamper is one of the ways we “sweat the details” to ensure your new egress window well works perfectly.
If you’d like a quote on a new egress window well for your home, you can contact us here.