Serving Ames
Groundwater & Basement Water Intrusion in Ames, IA
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
Which of the two creeks matters at this address?
Whichever lies upstream of it, and for anything below the junction, both. The two catchments are unlike in size and shape, so a storm can raise one appreciably while the other stays ordinary, and the highest levels come from the occasions they coincide. Reading the mapping for a specific address settles it better than following one number.
It has not rained here and the creek is climbing.
The farmland around the edge is drained by tile that delivers to the channels far more quickly than the same ground would unaided, so a creek responds to rain across an area well beyond the city. Watching the sky overhead gives little warning. Following what has fallen on the catchment upstream is what makes it predictable.
The households here turn over every year.
Which puts the record of what a property has done in the files rather than in anybody's head. City records show what has been repaired, the mapping shows the ground, and the households on a street that have stayed put hold the rest. Ask inside the first month; nobody offers it unprompted during a storm.
The same questions, in context, on the Ames mold removal page.