How to find a good wet basement contractor?

[lhfarm]

I have a wet basement and was ready to dig up the outside until I read this post http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/72203-water-basement-help.html. Now I'm not sure digging on the outside will solve the problem. I'm not sure I can do the inside work myself and want to find a good local contractor - if possible. This is a weekend home, soon to be retirement home, so only here weekends. The nearest town is small and looking in the phonebook, I see local numbers listed, but it appears they are located elsewhere. So I've given up on local, but still searching for "good".

Any suggestions on how to go about about finding the right guys to work with? Should I ask them for their solutions or tell them what I think I need? How can I tell if they know their business (other than asking for customer references)?

Thanks,

 

[JB4310]

Ihfarm,
I just lost a long winded response to your problem, one of my kids came in and I wasn't paying attention and accidentally closed the page,
Anyway what I was getting at was your question on how to find a contractor. get a yellow page book that serves the largest local city, look under "waterproofing contractors" or basement wp contractors, look for a guy who uses his name in the company's name and lists his address, stay clear of so called national franchises, give them as much info as you can, they should have no problem giving you a pretty close estimate over the phone.
Beware, there are some scammers in this line of work, of course your local consumer protection agency would say get a contract in writing, get several quotes and references, this is supposed to protect you from unscrupulous contractors but it annoys legitimate ones, it's kinda a gut thing for you and the contractor, there has to be trust to get the best job done, if the contractor trusts you then he's not going to demand a deposit (or maybe a small one), just payment upon completion, that's how I operate.
I'm a very soft seller, (usually have enough work) and the easier a job is for me to get the lower the cost will be, the ones who pay the most are the customers that need three estimates, an insurance certificate sent, and references provided. It's just more work for me and there isn't that simple hand shake trust, which makes me not shy to give a price high enough that I don't care if I get the job or not, often times I'm surprised I get the job.
That's a look into the mind of a contractor, I'm probably not that different from other legitimate contractors that have been in business long enough to have the luxury to pick and choose, but are still very conscientious and grateful for any jobs we get.
JB,

 

[lhfarm]

Thanks JB, just the kind of advice I was looking for. I really appreciate the time - especially since you got to do it twice. Just wish you were in the mid-west!

 

[ray66v]

Contractor's who will care about the job as much as you will, are rare. I have done several of these outside drainage systems with 100% success. I would not let someone else's ineptitude keep me from being successful. It is hard work. But, its not rocket science. The cash reward for doing the job yourself is huge.

 

[Paddy]

ihfarm,

I think you need to seperate your issue in to two parts; What needs to be done and who will you get to do it. The problem with picking a contractor first, each has their own solution. Some want to coat the inside walls. Others want to make a little mortor trough along the perimeter leading to a sump. Your post does not tell us much. Like how do you want to use your basement? Work shop? finished space? Big difference in the game plan. Also, do you have a place for a drain system to drain to "light"? A walk out bacement generally does have a good potential to drain. A bacement set in a flat corn field has zero chance.

But if you have slope to drain and you want it DRY. The only sure shot is to install a working perimeter drain. Dig out all the dirt around the bacement (this summer when it's dry!) Presure wash the walls, seal coat. Then install ridgid perfereated drain pipe with planned slope. Use a dirt sock over the pipe. Then the magic; back fill with drainage gravel nearly to the top. Cover the gravel with filter fabric. Back fill the last 2 feet with dirt. Surface grade with slope away from the home, and make sure all gutter discharge is directed away from the house.

So as you can see, you don't need any special type of bandaid. You need to have it done as if it was a new home being built right. I would be there myself to see it was done right.

Hope this helps

Patrick T

 

[lhfarm]

Here is some more information. The original part of the house was built around 1960. At that time, a drain was put in and it dumps over the hill. The ground here is clay on top of sandstone. They hit sandstone in the basement and the drain tile doesn't have a great deal of slope, because they didn't want to cut through the stone. The basement was/is finished living space. The drain was used for a basement shower, washer and utility sink for may years. Ten years ago, we remodeled and put a second story on. I also plumbed the sink and washer into an above floor tank, with a sump pump to dump the water well away from the house. So the drain has not been used for anything but carrying off ground water since.

The house has had three additions added. The front porch, a back family room and a guest room addtion. So three sides of the orginial foundation is covered by structure. Digging out the old tile on those three sides is not an option.

You may be able to see in the picture that the field tile is almost completely blocked with soil. I could still get a snake through the pipe, but I'm sure it is blocked near the house, with water backing up in the pipe and seaping in along the floor edge. There is indoor/outdoor carpet down there and it wicks pretty well. I've been sucking water with a shop vac.

To add to the excitement, my late father-in-law owned part interest in a cement block plant when the house was built. I'm sue the basement floor is extra thick. I'm only around on the weekend and don't know if I could do this by myself. I'd be happy to do some, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to hire some help.

 

[Paddy]

ihfarm,

I'm thinking we are mixing the drains here. Showers and such go to a septic field. The drain that I thought you were having trouble with was your "outside", ie, perimeter drain. hence, talking about digging up around your house. Is your sewer backing up? Or is water seeping in through your bacement walls?

In any case, you will not need to remove your bacement floor. If you have drains under your floor that are cloged, they will need to be reamed/cleaned out.

Patrick T

 

[lhfarm]

ihfarm,

I'm thinking we are mixing the drains here. Showers and such go to a septic field. The drain that I thought you were having trouble with was your "outside", ie, perimeter drain. hence, talking about digging up around your house. Is your sewer backing up? Or is water seeping in through your bacement walls?

In any case, you will not need to remove your bacement floor. If you have drains under your floor that are cloged, they will need to be reamed/cleaned out.

Patrick T

No, my FIL was ahead of his time, putting gray water striaght into the field. The septic is fine. We have had record rains and the ground is soaked. There are no floor drains, just the field tile around the the original house.

I'm thinking I'll need to put a drain system inside the basement, digging a trench along the basement walls, dumping into a sump pit.

 

[Paddy]

Grey water systems are fine, just not tied with your bacement drainage.

You have likely destroyed the perimeter drain with soap scum, lint

 

[JB4310]

Ihfarm,
Knowing what we know about your situation I don't think you have any other choice but to go with the sub-floor drainage system, which would be my first choice, but as you can see others believe as strongly in the exterior system.

You still need a sump pit for a junction, but might not need a pump if the side of your house that is on the down hill side is accessible (no additions, porches etc) use your back hoe to dig a trench to the area where the existing drain came to daylight, always better to drain by gravity than rely on a pump/electricity.
If you go with the gravity trench, use solid pipe out side and you can tie your leader pipes/surface drains into the same trench, just not the same pipe, you want to keep them separated and the outside drains don't have to be that deep in the ground as the one coming out from under the basement floor, keep a narrow trench and the outside drain can go on top of the basement drain.

You do need a little pitch to prevent sediment build up, but it's gonna happen anyway due to the slow passive movement of the water from under the house, that's why you need the junction pit so you can flush test/clean it from inside. you don't have to get carried away with the pitch, even 1-2 % is fine, but at no point can the pipe have a hump in it that is above the floor level in the basement and as the pipe gets in the frost zone you don't want any dips either, to prevent freezing. you want to set the discharge line so that the level of water under the floor is a min of 6-8 inches.

A simple way to check all these specs is when the trench is open before any pipe is put in, test it with water in the bottom of the trenches (inside and out), the bottom of the trench should be the exact contour you need and then any piping (outside) will be solid so you don't need any stone or filter fabric just lay the pipe on the bottom and back fill with dirt.
John.