Water engineer for basement water issues

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The basement waterproofing business is full of charlatans. You don't want anyone who does a lot of marketing, if they wear a uniform or drive a truck with fancy logos steer clear.

The problem is that rainwater is running down the foundation and finding cracks to get in. The solution is first to keep that water away from the foundation in the first place, and then to give it a place to go where it can be disposed of safely. The exact details depend upon the site and how it was built. But if someone starts talking about "groundwater" or "water table" or similar mumbo-jumbo, cross them off your list.

The water in my neighborhood literally pushes up out of cracks in the street. Groundwater is a real thing. I have no idea if OP has this problem but in our local soil and geology you may have basement water problems even if you clear all the water from your roof and around your house. There may be other parts of the country or even spots locally where redirecting surface water is all you have to do. But the poster who keeps insisting this is always true is wrong! And no, I don’t sell basement waterproofing.

OP likely would have had issues before if they were in such a neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

https://www.drydry.com/

John Babec is a good guy IME. Honest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The basement waterproofing business is full of charlatans. You don't want anyone who does a lot of marketing, if they wear a uniform or drive a truck with fancy logos steer clear.

The problem is that rainwater is running down the foundation and finding cracks to get in. The solution is first to keep that water away from the foundation in the first place, and then to give it a place to go where it can be disposed of safely. The exact details depend upon the site and how it was built. But if someone starts talking about "groundwater" or "water table" or similar mumbo-jumbo, cross them off your list.

Avoid interior perimeter solutions at all cost if you at all can. Go for external dig out and repair and slab repair. If you think about it interior sump pump and interior perimeter is making your walls into a water conduit. You don’t want water to come near or into your walls in the first place.

Not to mention pests, mice, crickets (black indoor ones). You’ll never get rid of these again. Pick your company on whether they’ll attempt exterior solution as the priority one.

[Anonymous]

This is brilliant

https://buildingscience.com/documents/building-science-insights-newsletters/bsi-110-keeping-water-out-basements

[Anonymous]

The first thing to do is make sure no water is running towards your foundation. Gutters need to be clear and empty far away from your foundation. The ground needs to slope noticably downhill from your foundation too. If this isn't correct, start there. Clean your gutters. Hire a landscaping company to fix the slope so all water runs away from your foundation. Then decide if you still need expensive membranes and pumps.

[Anonymous]

This is a civil engineer issue. They will figure out why - which most likely has something to do with the addition messing up the natural hydrology of the site.
There are ways to channel water flow away from the building or you could waterproof the problem areas. The former is usually the first choice. Proper waterproofing is always important as well as relieving hydrostatic pressure.
Soil will always be moist, and moisture always migrates towards dry areas. You just have to make sure it doesn't have pressure contact with dry. Gravity is always a nice passive solution if possible.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I may be coming into this topic late. But I’ve never heard of a “Water Engineer”. I spent summer and winter breaks in High school thru college working for my grandfather ( Owned a construction company).

Usually, extend gutters. Make sure clay like soil has a nice slope away from the house. Details you can look up.

I like these issues. Try and send pics. Most likely this is very solvable with minimum effort/money

Forgot to mention, I’ve lived in and flipped a dozen houses. Most had water issues - that’s why I got them cheap. Yet I’ve never spent more than a thousand dollars fixing them.

Best of luck

[Anonymous]

You need a French drain and very good gutters I bet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The basement waterproofing business is full of charlatans. You don't want anyone who does a lot of marketing, if they wear a uniform or drive a truck with fancy logos steer clear.

The problem is that rainwater is running down the foundation and finding cracks to get in. The solution is first to keep that water away from the foundation in the first place, and then to give it a place to go where it can be disposed of safely. The exact details depend upon the site and how it was built. But if someone starts talking about "groundwater" or "water table" or similar mumbo-jumbo, cross them off your list.

Avoid interior perimeter solutions at all cost if you at all can. Go for external dig out and repair and slab repair. If you think about it interior sump pump and interior perimeter is making your walls into a water conduit. You don’t want water to come near or into your walls in the first place.

Not to mention pests, mice, crickets (black indoor ones). You’ll never get rid of these again. Pick your company on whether they’ll attempt exterior solution as the priority one.

I just don’t think this guy knows what he’s talking about, sorry. I’m not an expert, but this defies logic and common sense. Having the drain on the inside or outside of the walls wouldn’t change the water or the pests. The drains are under the slab.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, I may be coming into this topic late. But I’ve never heard of a “Water Engineer”. I spent summer and winter breaks in High school thru college working for my grandfather ( Owned a construction company).

Usually, extend gutters. Make sure clay like soil has a nice slope away from the house. Details you can look up.

I like these issues. Try and send pics. Most likely this is very solvable with minimum effort/money

Forgot to mention, I’ve lived in and flipped a dozen houses. Most had water issues - that’s why I got them cheap. Yet I’ve never spent more than a thousand dollars fixing them.

Best of luck

Depending on the extent of the flip, you shouldn’t be able to sell them without installing functional perimeter drains.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The basement waterproofing business is full of charlatans. You don't want anyone who does a lot of marketing, if they wear a uniform or drive a truck with fancy logos steer clear.

The problem is that rainwater is running down the foundation and finding cracks to get in. The solution is first to keep that water away from the foundation in the first place, and then to give it a place to go where it can be disposed of safely. The exact details depend upon the site and how it was built. But if someone starts talking about "groundwater" or "water table" or similar mumbo-jumbo, cross them off your list.

Avoid interior perimeter solutions at all cost if you at all can. Go for external dig out and repair and slab repair. If you think about it interior sump pump and interior perimeter is making your walls into a water conduit. You don’t want water to come near or into your walls in the first place.

Not to mention pests, mice, crickets (black indoor ones). You’ll never get rid of these again. Pick your company on whether they’ll attempt exterior solution as the priority one.

Avoid anyone who proposes excavating anything until all possibilities of handling runoff on the surface have been exhausted.

It's not a question of internal or external, it's a question of whether you need to dig at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, I may be coming into this topic late. But I’ve never heard of a “Water Engineer”. I spent summer and winter breaks in High school thru college working for my grandfather ( Owned a construction company).

Usually, extend gutters. Make sure clay like soil has a nice slope away from the house. Details you can look up.

I like these issues. Try and send pics. Most likely this is very solvable with minimum effort/money

Forgot to mention, I’ve lived in and flipped a dozen houses. Most had water issues - that’s why I got them cheap. Yet I’ve never spent more than a thousand dollars fixing them.

Best of luck

Depending on the extent of the flip, you shouldn’t be able to sell them without installing functional perimeter drains.

Nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The basement waterproofing business is full of charlatans. You don't want anyone who does a lot of marketing, if they wear a uniform or drive a truck with fancy logos steer clear.

The problem is that rainwater is running down the foundation and finding cracks to get in. The solution is first to keep that water away from the foundation in the first place, and then to give it a place to go where it can be disposed of safely. The exact details depend upon the site and how it was built. But if someone starts talking about "groundwater" or "water table" or similar mumbo-jumbo, cross them off your list.

Avoid interior perimeter solutions at all cost if you at all can. Go for external dig out and repair and slab repair. If you think about it interior sump pump and interior perimeter is making your walls into a water conduit. You don’t want water to come near or into your walls in the first place.

Not to mention pests, mice, crickets (black indoor ones). You’ll never get rid of these again. Pick your company on whether they’ll attempt exterior solution as the priority one.

Avoid anyone who proposes excavating anything until all possibilities of handling runoff on the surface have been exhausted.

It's not a question of internal or external, it's a question of whether you need to dig at all.

Water is coming in. They’ll need to do the runoff and dig and remediate mold

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The basement waterproofing business is full of charlatans. You don't want anyone who does a lot of marketing, if they wear a uniform or drive a truck with fancy logos steer clear.

The problem is that rainwater is running down the foundation and finding cracks to get in. The solution is first to keep that water away from the foundation in the first place, and then to give it a place to go where it can be disposed of safely. The exact details depend upon the site and how it was built. But if someone starts talking about "groundwater" or "water table" or similar mumbo-jumbo, cross them off your list.

Avoid interior perimeter solutions at all cost if you at all can. Go for external dig out and repair and slab repair. If you think about it interior sump pump and interior perimeter is making your walls into a water conduit. You don’t want water to come near or into your walls in the first place.

Not to mention pests, mice, crickets (black indoor ones). You’ll never get rid of these again. Pick your company on whether they’ll attempt exterior solution as the priority one.

Avoid anyone who proposes excavating anything until all possibilities of handling runoff on the surface have been exhausted.

It's not a question of internal or external, it's a question of whether you need to dig at all.

This is fine but for the houses I’ve lived in in Maryland, I don’t think you can have a dry basement without functional perimeter drains. If your house is of the age where the original ones have failed, you can play with downspouts all you like and it may not solve the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The basement waterproofing business is full of charlatans. You don't want anyone who does a lot of marketing, if they wear a uniform or drive a truck with fancy logos steer clear.

The problem is that rainwater is running down the foundation and finding cracks to get in. The solution is first to keep that water away from the foundation in the first place, and then to give it a place to go where it can be disposed of safely. The exact details depend upon the site and how it was built. But if someone starts talking about "groundwater" or "water table" or similar mumbo-jumbo, cross them off your list.

Avoid interior perimeter solutions at all cost if you at all can. Go for external dig out and repair and slab repair. If you think about it interior sump pump and interior perimeter is making your walls into a water conduit. You don’t want water to come near or into your walls in the first place.

Not to mention pests, mice, crickets (black indoor ones). You’ll never get rid of these again. Pick your company on whether they’ll attempt exterior solution as the priority one.

Avoid anyone who proposes excavating anything until all possibilities of handling runoff on the surface have been exhausted.

It's not a question of internal or external, it's a question of whether you need to dig at all.

This is fine but for the houses I’ve lived in in Maryland, I don’t think you can have a dry basement without functional perimeter drains. If your house is of the age where the original ones have failed, you can play with downspouts all you like and it may not solve the problem.

I have a 60some year old house in MoCo. We've had no water issues in our basement since we managed the surface flow shortly after purchasing almost 30 years ago, and doubling the size of the house 15 years ago.

Ground water isn't really an issue for us as we're on the side of hill. Location, location, location. I'd think twice before buying bottom land in the piedmont.