We had a trickle of water coming in the basement on Sunday during a thaw with plenty of rain, and since then it’s been really cold, so everything froze up again. Even the streets – where on Sunday there were running streams of water, trying to find their way to the storm drains (which were mostly blocked by snow and ice dams left by the village plows) we now have sheets of hard frozen ice.
The bottoms of everyone’s driveways are also either ice dams or sheets of smooth, glassy ice, and in some suburbs, there’s so much ice left that there are all kinds of accidents all the time. Also, there are tons of big potholes all over the area, and more and more appear every day. So there’s lots of people getting flat tires, and there are accidents because drivers have to zig-zag around the worst of them.
Eh, this winter is a big mess.
So tonight we had some guy come over to give the old sales pitch for a solution to the “occasional water in the basement” problem, which of course could be a very expensive fix to the foundation of the house. His company’s deal is a waterproofing/extra drainage/air purification and mold filtering combo. Quite expensive, and we were offered at least two inducements to reduce the price if we signed tonight and put down a deposit.
This kind of sales pitch is guaranteed to FAIL with us, because it just doesn’t make sense to decide on the first estimate. We have to check with the other guys. We sat through the presentation and it was illuminating, but also rather horrifying… supposedly, we wouldn’t have to get a backhoe in to expose the entire foundation on the three sides of the house (the fourth side of the basement doesn’t go under the house, but under the concrete pad for the garage and family room). We would have some fat guys digging trenches all around, putting goop on the foundation and making it water tight, and adding extra drainage…. and then they would come in, break up the basement floor, and install more drainage and an air filtering system. Sure, and then we’d be replacing all the crappy landscaping plants on all three sides.
Good thing we never got around to getting the deck I want put in, that would have been the first casualty.
Oh, dear. But there is mold down there, so we know we’ve had an occasional problem in the past. Something will have to be done.
I used US Waterproofing, and they were good and honest and pretty affordable. My fix was relatively simple, but I had them out a second time for something and they told me I was fine and didn’t need to do anything.
If they turn down work, I pretty much think they’re good. They’re also well-rated on Angie’s List.