Serving Harrisburg
Groundwater & Basement Water Intrusion in Harrisburg, 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 cellar filled from the inside rather than from the street.
When the combined pipe in the street is full, it relieves itself through the lowest connected opening in a building, which in a rowhouse cellar is the floor drain. What arrives is the street's water rather than groundwater, and no amount of grading, gutter work or exterior drainage touches it. A valve on that line, or a reconfiguration that lifts the house's drainage above street level and pumps it out, is what does.
The river only came up a few feet and it went everywhere.
On a river this wide and shallow a small rise translates into a very large area covered, which is the opposite of how a river in a narrow valley behaves. It also means the level climbs more slowly and gives more warning. The figure to look at is the stage forecast against the elevation of a specific property rather than a general sense of how high it seems.
Is there warning before the sewer surcharges?
Some, and it is about rate rather than total. A long steady rain rarely does it; an inch in half an hour frequently does. Watching for short intense cells rather than large daily totals gives the more useful notice. The practical precaution is keeping the cellar floor clear during that kind of forecast rather than through a generally wet week.
Read it with the local conditions on the Harrisburg page.