Serving Davis
Groundwater & Basement Water Intrusion in Davis, CA
Basement seepage, failed sumps, and hydrostatic pressure against the foundation are extracted and dried, and the path from the ground is identified so the loss does not repeat. Groundwater and basement seepage are extracted and dried only after the path from the soil is identified — a wall, a slab, a drain, or a failed sump. Drying the interior without stopping that path returns the same water to the same floor.
Frequently asked questions
The bypass protects us from the river, so why do we still flood?
Because they are different mechanisms. The bypass carries the valley's high water around the towns, which addresses the mainstem. It does nothing about rain falling on flat clay ground inside the city, which has almost no gradient and drains only by pipe. Most of the water that reaches houses here is local rainfall with nowhere to go rather than river water arriving.
Our rental sits empty over the summer.
That is the highest-risk period even in a dry climate. A supply line or an appliance connection that fails in an empty house runs until someone arrives, and a summer break is long. Shutting the water off when a unit is vacant costs nothing and caps the volume, which is what determines the size of the loss. A monthly walkthrough catches the things that shutting off the water does not.
Why does drying take so long in winter here?
Tule fog. It can hold humidity near saturation for a week or more, which means outdoor air does no drying at all and opening the building makes matters worse. Everything has to be done in a closed system with mechanical dehumidification, and readings fall more slowly than the same job would elsewhere in California. Schedules quoted from experience in a drier part of the state tend to be optimistic here.
The Davis overview carries this FAQ with the city research.