Serving Parkersburg
Groundwater & Basement Water Intrusion in Parkersburg, WV
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
Is this property inside the wall or outside it?
It is the first thing worth establishing and it is not always obvious on the ground. The protection covers a defined area and stops at a line, so two houses a few streets apart can have entirely different exposures and entirely different insurance situations. The city and the flood mapping both show where the line runs, and it is worth looking rather than assuming.
The smaller river backed up rather than overflowing.
Where a smaller river meets a larger one that is running high, the smaller cannot discharge and holds what is in it. So the flooding happens upstream of the confluence without any unusual flow in the smaller river at all. It is why properties well up the tributary can be affected by an event that is entirely about the main river.
The wall held and the cellar still filled.
With the outfalls shut, rain falling inside the protected area has no gravity route out and must be lifted over by pump, and meanwhile the high river raises the water beneath the whole protected ground. It arrives through floors and floor drains rather than over any bank. The wall stops the river; it does not stop the water underneath.
This FAQ belongs to the Parkersburg page; it is repeated here.