Serving Bethlehem
Groundwater & Basement Water Intrusion in Bethlehem, PA
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 two halves of this city are separated by the river.
They are, and they are different grounds as well as different neighborhoods. The north side climbs onto limestone where water moves through the rock along routes the surface never shows; the south side is the old works and the flat by the river. Which side an address is on decides most of what follows.
The old steel ground on the south side is a very large paved area.
It is, and drainage on it was built for an operating plant rather than for the redevelopment that has followed. Where it is being rebuilt current runoff rules apply; where it is not, decades-old arrangements are still doing the work. Which of those a neighboring property sits below is worth establishing before spending.
The damp shows partway up the cellar wall.
Water showing that high came sideways out of the slope rather than up from beneath. It travels down through the soil above, meets the stonework and finds whichever joint gives first, leaving the floor dry throughout. The useful work is therefore uphill of the building, catching the flow before it arrives, rather than inside it.
This FAQ belongs to the Bethlehem page; it is repeated here.