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When do you have the thoughts…“I knew better” and “I told myself”?

February 22, 2009

When do you have the thoughts…“I knew better” and “I told myself”?

I will tell you when you have those thoughts. It’s usually right after whatever you hoped to avoid has happened. Right after your car slides into the car in front of you is when you say “I knew I needed new tires!” Or when you did that temporary halfway repair job on the fence and the first wind blows down and you say “I knew better!” as that section of fence lays on top of the new car.

The problem with knowing better and telling yourself is that by the time you decide to do something about it is usually after it just cost you a lot of money that you would not have had to spend if you had just done what needed done in the first place.

We all realize our lives would be less complicated if we just did things when they need done and did them right. By now you have this nagging feeling that I might be talking about the basement flood last spring when we had the 10 inch rain storm that lasted a whole week with power outages for 2 – 3 days. What did it cost just to clean up? What did you say then… “I need to make this stop!” or “I need to move!” or “I never want to do this again!”?

Or maybe you said “I knew that waterproofing paint wouldn’t work!” or “I hate sump pumps because they only redirect the water after it is in the house and they only work when the electricity is on!” or “I got the battery backup (X number of dollars) but it only worked for 6 hours.”?

Ok we had a drought last summer and fall and now it is winter and dry again. Drought or no drought spring storms will come again this spring (you knew that) and you could have had the problem fixed last summer (maybe you told yourself that) but now you are looking at paying to have the water cleaning crew (professionals or yourself) in to clean up this year’s mess. Now the pro’s might cost you 1500 to 2500 dollars to clean up the mess but then what would it cost you to rent the equipment take 2-3 days leave and work 10 -12 hours a day on it yourself?

It may already be too late to avert this year’s disaster but you didn’t move, most likely you won’t. And if you want to sell in this market… well when the building inspector sees the old water stains and has to report them… buyers will go for the house with the dry basement, not yours. But you knew that.

So you don’t have a basement and you are feeling a little smug about it. When was the last time you looked in your crawl space? No… let me guess you don’t like to look because the last time you looked there was puddles of water which are known as factories for bugs and mosquitoes. Wet soil is one of the requirements for termites and since you are not looking under there you also don’t know about the mud tunnels to your floor joists either. The other thing is the mildew smell from the “MOLD” didn’t go away either.

I know when you are going to do something about it. Right after you try to sell the house and the home inspector looks in the crawl space (and as much as you dislike looking there they can’t wait to see it!). That is about the time he announces you have Mold, rot, and termites and any chance of selling the house goes out the window. You probably mentioned that to yourself too but it is like finding that spot on your skin you think might be cancer but you are afraid that if you see the doctor he will say you are right. A wet crawl space is cancer and the sooner it is cared for the less it costs to fix.

We recently looked at an engineer’s report that said water damage in a crawl space had caused estimated 54,000 dollars damage to a home. It made $8,000 to $10,000 for waterproofing seem rather reasonable instead of paying that and the 54K on top of the waterproofing.

We have stressed in this blog the need to properly waterproof your home before you have the problem or at the first signs. We also stressed that doing it the way you have told yourself makes sense is to do it where the water stays outside of your home and not manage it after it has seeped into the walls or comes up under the floor. Dehumidifying and sump pumping may keep the floor dry but water still takes its toll on the walls that support your home.

Quick quiz. What is the first clue to a home inspector that there is a water problem in a crawl space or basement?

Answer: Sump pumps and or dehumidifiers. They are a dead giveaway. How much fun has it been to keep up with the maintenance of those two things? Maybe you told yourself “I will never own a house where I have to worry about that again!” You are not alone.

We make your basement or crawl space dry and that helps make your home healthy and a healthy place for your family to live. Until next time… have a great day.

Tags: Arlington County, basement moisture, Basement Waterproofing, drain tiles, drainage, Fairfax County, french drain, inspections, leaking basement, Leesburg, Loudoun County, mold prevention, Mold Remediation, Mold Removal, Northern Virginia, Prince William County, Stafford County, sump pumps, True waterproofing, water proofing, Waterproofing, waterproofing contractors, wet basements

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When do you have the thoughts…“I knew better” and “I told myself”?