Virginia Basement Waterproofing, Foundation and Basement Waterproofing in Virginia, Serving Northern, Northwestern and Southeastern VA

December 22, 2008

I know when I am planning a trip the first thing I do is look to see what it is going to cost me if I book right now. In the current market chances are good if I can wait awhile, prices will go down as airlines struggle to fill those seats. It makes sense to wait and see but, if I wait and the airline goes out of business right after I buy my ticket or just before my return trip home I really have waited too long and now it will cost me even more to get where I need to go. Let’s say that they didn’t go out of business but in an effort to save money to give me that cheap fare they skipped some maintenance or safety issue and the plane crashes with me on board then the cheap fare wasn’t any help at all.

Now the reason I bring this up is because it is just the way we are wired… to try to get the best deal. Sometimes waiting for the best deal is a disaster in the making. When you have a wet or damp basement or crawlspace you have everything time needs to create a disaster. Generally because of the slow nature of the way water destroys a foundation there would seem to be plenty of time to care for it. So, instead of getting it truly waterproofed, we tend to put other projects first relegating the basement to cool, damp, or wet storage. The occasional flood is only cause to make a dump run or two and to place everything left on stilts or on a shelf. You better make that a steel or plastic shelf. One of my clients built a nice set of shelves to keep the tools and paint cans on and found that the wooden legs and shelves had soaked the water by wicking it up all the way to the 3rd shelf. The floor appeared only damp… not wet to the touch!

That should make you think. One of the common remodeling issues I run into is rot of the rim joist and sill plate behind a flashing where there was a deck attached to the house. The thought is that the flashing failed when in reality the flashing traps moisture that wicked into the wood from the concrete foundation, which caused the rot.

Water can be wicked up in a house built with good vapor barriers and a tight envelope and can rise from a foundation or basement wall to the attic 20 feet up. Cold spots in the corners of the room will draw moisture and start producing mold behind the walls and it may be months or years before it is visible but can release toxins into the air making your home unhealthy.

When you have discovered that your basement or crawl space is damp then the process has been occurring for some time now and the sooner it is stopped the better because the health of the house is dependent on the good health of the foundation. A wet or damp foundation can cause all of these issues and as home inspectors are increasingly aware of, the risk posed by those conditions make buyers more reluctant (if not dead set) against buying a home with all the potential problems or hazards associated with them.

That is where a truly dry basement with a written transferable guarantee becomes piece of mind… while you are still living in your home and in the future when you wish to sell it. Time is working with water to destroy your home’s value and in every case, the sooner it is fixed the less it costs. Pay now or pay more later, it is up to you.

Tags: Arlington County, basement foundation repair, basement moisture, Basement Waterproofing, cellar waterproofing, Clarke County, crawlspace leaks, Culpeper County, Fairfax County, Fauquier County, Foundation Waterproofing, Frederick County, install drain, Leesburg, Loudoun County, mold prevention, Northern Virginia, Prince William County, Rappahannock County, Stafford County, True waterproofing, Warren County, water leaks, Waterproofing, wet basements, Winchester City

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