Serving Savannah
Groundwater & Basement Water Intrusion in Savannah, GA
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 house is on the bluff. Is the marsh still putting water under the floor?
Usually not. The bluff sheds to the Savannah River, so a wet wall there is roof, runoff, or masonry that was never a barrier. The marsh sets the table on the hammocks and the filled southside. Elevation answers the flood question and leaves two different drying jobs. A contractor should ask which half of town you are on before treating a bluff basement like a tidal crawl.
The cottage is raised. Why does the bay stay a pond after an August band?
Because the crawl sits in marsh air and a tidal table, not in the yard. Raising the floor keeps floodwater out of the rooms; it does not stop groundwater from wetting the joists. Closing the lattice to keep animals out then traps what the hammock is already adding. Extract the standing water, open a vent path, and lay plastic on the soil. The rooms being dry is not the same as the bay being dry.
Do the old southside canals still decide whether a slab takes water?
Yes. Those canals are the only outfall for filled lots, and a high tide locks them. An August storm then has nowhere to discharge, so the lowest pads take canal water from the side. The canal that drained a farm is now the plumbing for a neighborhood. Street water that came through a canal is Category 3. A local pro extracts that before anyone talks about drying the finish in place.
The same questions, in context, on the Savannah mold removal page.