Serving Huntington
Structural Drying & Dehumidification in Huntington, WV
Commercial dehumidifiers and air movers remove moisture from the structure, with daily readings logged from the material itself for claim documentation. Structural drying brings building materials back to a documented dry standard using air movers and dehumidifiers rather than surface evaporation alone. Moisture readings are logged through the process so the substrate, not just the surface, is confirmed dry before anything is rebuilt.
Frequently asked questions
The wall is there. Why did the hollow flood?
Because the water came from the land side rather than the river. A hollow drains a steep catchment of its own onto a valley floor a few dozen feet wide, and an intense cell over the hills fills it within the hour, entirely independently of what the Ohio is doing. The wall was built for a different problem. In practice the hollows flood more often than the riverfront does.
It came up through the cellar drain while the river was high.
With the wall closed, the town's own drainage has to be lifted over it, and while that is happening the pipes inside are full. The lowest connected opening in a house relieves that pressure, and in a cellar of this age that is the floor drain. It is not river water and no amount of exterior work touches it. A valve on that line is the measure that does.
Is a cellar in a hollow worth finishing?
Rarely, and the reason is the catchment rather than the building. On a narrow valley floor the water arrives fast, has a short route in, and leaves as quickly, which is a poor combination for anything absorbent. As dry storage with the plant raised it works perfectly well. The money that would go into finishing it is usually better spent on the culvert and the grading above the house.
These questions come from the Huntington page.