Serving Port Townsend
Groundwater & Basement Water Intrusion in Port Townsend, WA
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 bluff behind the waterfront keeps giving way.
Slopes of this kind fail where water is concentrated at the top of them, and a downspout, a driveway edge or a pump outlet is usually the source. Getting that discharge back from the crest and spreading it out is what slows the process. Work done on the face itself rarely holds if what reaches the top has not changed.
Does the building's designation restrict the options?
It can, particularly to anything visible from the street or original to the fabric. That does not prevent remediation; it means the approach has to be chosen with the constraint in mind rather than discovered halfway through. Asking the local commission what would and would not be acceptable, before work is specified, is usually a short conversation.
Between October and April nothing dries out.
Five months without a break changes the timing of work rather than the need for it. Something found in November has the whole winter to act on a building with nothing drying meanwhile, so waiting for better conditions means waiting until April and paying for a larger repair when it arrives.
The same questions, in context, on the Port Townsend mold removal page.