Serving East York
Groundwater & Basement Water Intrusion in East York, 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
Our neighbor put in a drain and it made no difference for us.
Where soil depth over rock varies across short distances, that is common. One lot can sit on deeper soil where a drain intercepts a water table, and the next on shallow cover where water arrives along the rock from outside the property. The same work produces different results for reasons that are entirely invisible from the surface. A shallow test pit on your own ground during a wet spell is worth more than the comparison.
How much of a difference does one big storm a year make?
It is the whole design question here. Ordinary rainfall is comfortably within what the ground and the drainage can handle; the September events are in a different class and produce essentially all of the damage. That means judging drainage against the average year is the wrong test. What matters is how the property performs in the one event that exceeds everything else, and that is the one worth preparing for.
What does an interior drain actually involve?
Breaking out the slab edge around the perimeter, laying pipe in stone below the floor, and running it to a sump that discharges outside. It is disruptive and dusty and it takes a few days, which is why it is best done alongside other work rather than on its own. Done properly it relieves the pressure that makes a wall weep, which is a different objective from sealing the wall and a more achievable one.
The same questions, in context, on the East York mold removal page.