Serving Montpelier
Groundwater & Basement Water Intrusion in Montpelier, VT
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
Why does the water climb so much higher here than downstream?
It is, and the shape of the valley explains it. In a confined reach the same volume has nowhere to spread, so it goes upward rather than outward, and the rise is quicker and further than the equivalent flow elsewhere. It drops as sharply once the crest passes. There is less usable time here rather than more.
The downtown sits on the flat where the two rivers meet.
It does, on the only level ground in a valley of steep hills, which is why the city is there and why the same few blocks take water repeatedly. There is very little higher ground nearby to move anything to. That constraint shapes what is realistic far more than any individual building's drainage.
Which of the two rivers matters at this address?
The one lying above it, and on the floor between them, each of them. Their catchments differ in size and in shape, so a single storm can raise one substantially while the other stays unremarkable, and the highest levels arrive when both crest together. The mapping for a specific address is more use than following either gauge.
These questions come from the Montpelier page.