Serving Sunbury
Groundwater & Basement Water Intrusion in Sunbury, 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 wall held and the basement still filled.
That is the normal way this works, and it surprises people every time. When the river is high the outfalls through the wall are shut, so rain falling inside town has no gravity route out and must be lifted over by pump. Meanwhile the high river raises the water beneath the whole protected area and it comes up through cellar floors. The wall stops the river; it does not stop the water.
Is there anything worth doing to a cellar this old?
The realistic aim is managing water rather than excluding it. A stone cellar in a protected river town will take water through the floor when the river is up whatever is done to the walls, so the work that pays is a pit and a pump that can keep ahead of it, and getting the heating plant and anything of value up off the floor. Sealing walls of this age generally moves the water rather than stopping it.
The pump kept up and the power went out.
That is the failure to plan for here, because the storms that fill a cellar are the same ones that take the lines down. A pump depending on the grid is unavailable during exactly the hours it is needed. A battery-backed second unit, sized to keep pace rather than to trickle, covers those hours. It is the single most useful thing in a town where the drainage is lifted rather than gravity-fed.
This FAQ belongs to the Sunbury page; it is repeated here.