The Sanity Inspector wrote:
I've got seepage in a corner of my basement. It's right under
a frequently-clogged downspout, which spills into a planter made of
railroad ties, which hugs the water right against the house. I'm up
on the roof every month, cleaning the gutters out. In springtime too,
since with seven century oaks even the oak blossoms will clog them.

Stop right there. That downspout and planter needs to be addressed
first. I suspect that will be all you need do and doing anything else will
be a waste of time and money. Gutters would be #2 on my list.

My advice is to fix the problem, not try and live with it by
waterproofing.


So anyway, I've been calling in waterproofing contractors for
estimates. I looked at www.bbb.org and
http://www.sos.state.ga.us/corporations/corpsearch.htm to weed out
obvious red flags. Of those that came out, I've been surprised at how
many different solutions the different companies have been offering
me.

Some wanted to chisel a trench on the inside, lay down some
plastic conduit, and duct the water out the side of the house, with or
without a sump pump. Some offered to dig up all or a part of the
exterior of the house, seal it, and lay exterior drainage pipes. Some
wanted to do some combination of the two.

Some gave me seemingly straightforward estimates, while one
gave me the new car dealership treatment, steering me towards a
particular approach, sending a manager out to give me a second pitch,
complete with a "now or never" price.

I'm waiting for one more estimate to be faxed over, which I
hope won't be prohibitive, since I liked this last guy's solution the
best.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit