Basement Systems was profiled in a New York Times article entitled Your Home: How to Deal with Water in Basement.
The article describes how and why basements get wet and the importance of proper drainage:
FOR most homeowners, keeping water out of the house involves making sure that the roof, windows and doors are in good repair and hold the elements at bay.
For many, though, the process involves all of the above and something else below: making sure that the water repelled by the roof, windows and doors does not find an alternate route into the house by seeping through the foundation wall.
''The majority of houses will end up having water in the basement at some point during the life of the house,'' said Lawrence M. Janesky, president of Basement Systems Inc., a waterproofing contractor based in Seymour, Conn., with 85 dealers across North America. ''In most cases, it's not a question of whether it will happen, but it's a question of when it will happen, how it will happen and how severe it will be when it does happen.''
Mr. Janesky, who holds 16 patents for waterproofing systems and products, said the primary cause of a wet basement is water infiltration through the foundation -- whether through cracks in the wall, through the basement floor or through the joint between the wall and the floor.
He explained that when water soaks the soil surrounding a house, a column of water in the soil presses against the foundation walls. ''This is known as hydrostatic pressure,'' Mr. Janesky said. ''And it pushes the water through joints, cracks and other imperfections in the foundation.''
Continue with the full May 19th, 2002 article at The New York Times [Read More]
