Serving Wilkes-Barre
Groundwater & Basement Water Intrusion in Wilkes-Barre, 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 levee was raised. Does that settle it?
It raised the level the city is protected to, which is a real improvement and not the same as immunity. Every such structure is built against a stated event and this city has seen that kind of event. What it means for an owner is that the current mapping reflects the raised structure, and the mapping rather than the memory of the last flood is what to read.
The levee held and the cellar still filled.
That is what usually happens, and it surprises people every time. Once the outfalls are shut, whatever falls inside the defended area has no gravity route out and must be lifted mechanically, while the high river raises the water beneath the whole of the protected ground. It arrives through the floor rather than over any bank at all.
A dip has appeared in the yard.
Settlement above old workings is a real possibility in this valley and it deserves to be looked at rather than filled in. What separates it from ordinary ground movement is a depression that goes on deepening across months, cracking that opens along a line, and doors or windows in the building that have changed. The state holds mapping of what lies beneath, and there is a process for claims.
This FAQ belongs to the Wilkes-Barre page; it is repeated here.