I have a basement with a 14 year old French Drain in 1/2 of the
basement. The other half has some funky previous home-owner devised
barrier system that diverts water from the other half to the drain,
with wood panelled walls to mask that system. The barrier doesn't
really work-- there is a corner that has a broken seal between the
barrier and the concrete floor, plus part of the stairway is over
that, hence even though the water is held back, mostly, some mold/wood
rot has set in. Hence, even though I can fix the seal, water is still
going to do some damage if it collects there..

So, I called the company that did the work in the early 90's. The
system they installed is warranteed, and still working great. I asked
them to see about expanding the drain system to the rest of the
basement. However, they do not do french drains anymore. They do a
system called WaterGuard by Basement Systems. I looked it up.. Bob
Vila and someother home improvement programs have featured this
system.. instead of a perforated drain tile, a pre-fab metal conduit
is put under the floor, which essentially is the same system, but more
"state of the art" as they say..

No matter what they claim, the waterproofing company says that this
will be warranteed along with the old system, and I will have a
totally water-free basement. plus their estimate is way below anyother
estimate, as the other companies want to dig up the entire basement,
rather than adding to what is there. they won't warrantee a sistered-
in system to the old system which is understandable and logical.

Anyone here have any experience with WaterGuard?

Also, I looked up the DryGuard system which is a baseboard type of
system.. This was not recommended to me, as the WaterGuard system is
being hyped as better, and that system is primarily for monolithic
basement floors. and the gets rid of the water before entering the
basement. This system is a more contained version of what I already
have..

Plus, I see that I can buy kits to do it myself.. However, it this
just a band aid?

And, for those of you suggesting outside landscaping, it is more
trouble than it is worth.. Several people have been here, and said
that a French Drain on the perimiter is almost impossible. There are
no low points to effectivley drain it.. It can't be run out to the
street because it will be well below street level before reaching the
curb, nor is there a city drainage gutter to pirate into (shhh..) For
re-grading. one person said let the next owner of the house worry
about it because it will make a mess of the yard.. plus over $10,000
to do right..