Basement Waterproofing Rip-offs

Can someone recommend who I could contact to help find the cause of the problem? I had a basement waterproofing company inspect yesterday and they didn't look around the outside of the house AT ALL and they quoted me 9,000 for one wall, 10,000 for two wall and 19,000 for all four walls (to dig up and install a drainage system).
I find it absurd that they didn't look outside at all.
Anyway, I am not going to even consider paying that kind of money until I try all the gutter/drainage tips Tom shared, but even in additon to doing that, I'd like to have an inpsector type person come try and figure out exactly where the water is coming in.
FYI, I have a minimal amount of water in my finished basement by one wall that is up against a crawl space. So its not even against an outside wall. (the front part of my house has a crawl space and the back part was built later and has a finished basement)
I step on the carpet and my socks get wet. So water is getting in, but not sure how or where it's coming from.

I have been calling several waterproffing company for the estimate. I agreed that they are rip off. So who do you call to determine that it is not the issue of gutter, downspout or drainage problem?

We had professionals come in adn waterproof our basement a few years ago. Upon hiring, I asked the salesman if there would be a chance of radon issues after waterproofing and was assured there wouldn't be. From my understanding, if you have a crack in your foundation, you have radon issues. So, with this system (they dug out the old french drain, drilled hole into the cynder blocks, replaced the drain with new black piping with small slits for water seepage, and replaced the wet blue stone for white stone, and placed a black plastic piece against the wall "to air out the french drain" and cemented overtop of that). My concern is that with this open space between the wall and new cement floor (the black piece of plastic), how does the radon not just travel through this opening? And, I am noticing hairline cracks along the footing (above the frech drain) where they poured the bew cement. Do I need to be concerned with Radon???? Once they were finished with the job, the men were very pushy on telling us to get dry wall up and "finish" our basement. It has been a few years, we haven't finished our basement and the mildew funky smell is still present and our walls still look like they are gettinf worse each year.....dry lock flaking off (from previous owners covering up water damage). Again, should I be concerned about radon? Should I contact them and question them about the mildew smell that should not be there anymore? Where do I start?

Did you notice the large Ohio State ad on this page ? These guys are also known as "Everdry waterproofing" in states other than Ohio. There are lots of examples of their issues/ problems in links associated with this topic.
They replace the outside downspout pipe run 3' down and then put an interior drainpipe system under the floor...almost always for more than $ 10,000.00.
Talk about ripoff.
Solid downspout pipe 3' down out will not pick out one drop of exterior water nor relieve and hydrostatic pressure. NOT TO WORRY THOUGH...they will come back and sell you "STABLWALL" carbon fiber to hold the wall in place and stop the cracking. These are large carbon mesh patches which don't address any potential shearing at the bottom because the patch doesn't go that far down, and it doesn't address any possible freeze damage or movement because it doesn't go that high up on the wall.
High pressure and scare tactics...these guys could teach us things we hadn't even thought of. They've been investigated by DATELINE on TV twice now. I guess the 2 lawyers they keep on retainer keep them out of the news most of the time. Remember their name so you can warn your customers.

http://www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/physic.html#Character

How radon enters your house, Radon gas can enter a home from the soil THROUGH cracks in floor and walls,floor drains,sump pumps,construction joints (AHEM...FLOOR-WALL JOINTS) and tiny cracks or pores in hollow block walls.

Hollow block walls that inside system companies do NOT waterproof...ever,on the outside and then DRILL HOLES on the INSIDE! Wonderful!!! They`ll drill holes OR leave GAPS....OPEN....along the FLOOR-WALL,they most certainly do.

READ A-K on EPA link.

HERE, 2 Girls Die in Possible Pesticide Exposure
http://www.clippertoday.com/printer_friendly/6054158

scroll down....says, investigators believe the FUMES found their way into the Toone home THROUGH tiny cracks where the foundation meets the building.

Cracks inside systems do NOT seal,don`t care about,don`t bother to identify etc....thats the TRUTH.

Frozen Ground can Direct Escaped Gas to Homes
http://wcco.com/consumer/escaped.gas.frost.2.1517844.html

....the GAS made it`s way into the home THROUGH cracks or ANY openings in BASEMENT WALLS where the gas goes up against the wall.

SEE PICA-photos,see exterior cracks in block walls,see other exterior openings.

ANOTHER inside system installed here, see what a competent home inspector said? 'Local building inspector INEPT. The homeowner was RIPPED OFF......
http://www.nachi.org/forum/f23/basement-waterproofing-system-42321/

We purchased our 1970s era home a few years ago. It sits on a pond (100ft behind the house) and it has a natural swell between the properties where the neighborhoods watershed runs through. The grade on the property is flat at the front and back with a moderate negative grade towards the pond. All water is adequately shedding away from the house, gutters and downspouts are regularly cleaned.

The first summer we were in our house (2007), we had a drought. It was bad. Virginia reservoirs were dry beds and water restrictions were commonplace that year. Unfortunately, that was the year we finished the basement and made it a living space. As we remodeled the basement we found evidence of water damage in the basement (mold behind drywall, water stains on the concrete, water stains on the footers and an inch up the studs, etc.) A neighbor said the house had water leak in it because of a county line that burst out front... so, I figured it was attributed to that.

Sometime later, as we neared the end of our renovation project, we had a night where we had 9" of rain on an already saturated ground from a previous rainfall. I went to bed and realized I forgot to lock the back door, so I trugged downstairs and found myself standing in a puddle by the door. I quickly turned on the light and found the water coming in from under a wall, between the concrete floor and the 2x4 footer. Fortunately we didn't finish any of the floors yet. :)

I woke my wife up and we spent the next eight hours running a shop-vac in that corner. In frustration, I ended up ripping out that area of wall hoping there was a crack I could shove gum in to stop the leak. What we observed that night is the water was coming from underneath the house and not through the walls - hairline cracks in the slab had discoloration as if there was water seeping upward and various spots around the basement had puddles forming... but nothing that required a shop-vac like that one rear-corner by the door.

We called Mid-Atlantic Waterproofing the following day and had a member of their high-pressure sales team sit at our kitchen table showing us worst-case pictures on how our foundation is going to collapse beneath our house. The offered two solutions: 1) Trench around the house and install a Tar/Plastic/French drain system for about $46,000... and 2) Trench around the inside perimeter of the basement, installing pipe to divert rising water into two sump holes with pumps to push it away for $18,000. Caving under the pressure, my wife and I signed the agreement for the second option since it seemed like the obvious solution to our problem. If the water was coming up through the path of least resistance then we could provide that path and push it away. Made total sense.

The following day I told some co-workers about our ordeal and solution and they suggested we get another estimate. I figured Mid-Atlantic was the best since I always hear their commercials on the radio... and I was a naive first-time home owner in my early twenties... but I did get other estimates as suggested. How right my co-workers were.

We got estimates the following day from five other companies. They all saw the video we took of what was happening that night and they all agreed that a sump system would be the best solution, especially since my property is properly drained and graded. One company, ValueDry appeared to have a great reputation, a friendly salesman and a price tag we could afford of only $8,000. We awarded the contract to ValueDry and contacted Mid-Atlantic Waterproofing to get our deposit check back. (In Virginia, you have a three-day period where you can rescind any contract work.) Mid-Atlantic gave me the run-around and treated me like I was shit when I went to their offices to pick up the check. They assured me I would be back in a few years.

ValueDry came out to my house and first used a recip saw to remove the exterior walls about 3-feet up, but kept the footers in tact so I could join them together after the work was complete. Afterward, they used a jackhammer to trench around the basement. They dug the holes, removed the debris and laid their pipe (which looked like a white PVC with a black, smooth interior - with holes on the bottom side and a stocking-like sleeve that covered it all). They drilled holes in the bottom of the concrete block foundation so any water that may get into the walls will drain out into the pipe. They finished it off by back filling with gravel and putting in a L-shaped plastic sheet that has ridges on one side. I decided to, afterward, take my vapor barrier and tuck it behind the black plastic, sealing it with a heavy-duty metallic tape. (That way any water behind the wall and vapor barrier would drip into the system.) Finally, they reapplied the concrete, installed the pumps, tested them and cleaned up. Their team did a fantastic job.

Now, whenever anyone says these systems are a rip-off I can confidently counter that they are effective if your water problems result from water rising beneath the house. This past winter has been a very wet one, with several blizzards dumping several feet of snow in our region and countless storms dumping inches of rain over night. When necessary, the pumps turn on and push the water away. It's peace of mind and well worth the money. I couldn't be happier with their service and I'd recommend ValueDry, and those systems, to anyone who is in need.

PS: I understand this is a water management system and not a true water proofing system but, before we get hung up on semantics, I should remind you waterproofing the exterior of the home wouldn't have solved our specific, yet surprisingly common, problem.

As a licensed home inspector I come across these wet or damp basements on a weekly basis and almost all have the same things in common.

1. Leaf filled gutters causing constant overflowing rain water to satutate the soils adjacent to the foundation.
2. Downspouts lacking 4 -5' long corrugated pvc extenders that divert water far from the foundation.
3. negative grading within 5' of the basement foundation walls.
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I always recommend that my buyers address the above issues first before considering placing a call to a waterproofing contractor.
These contractors will never tell their customers to try these relatively inexpensive fixes before considering spending thousands on their interior french drains and sump pumps.
These expensive systems have their place but , in my experience, they are over sold .

My question is that my drain system is bone dry unless we get a substantial amount of rain then I will get drainage into my sump system but for a normal rain to about 4" in one day I get nothing. I have had the floor drain pipes snaked with a camera and all is well. Any Ideas?

Credentials? How about 3 decades. Listen and learn something will you please. Pretty much ALL 'inside-interior' waterdiverting companies do NOT first competently & honestly IDENTIFY-DETERMINE where the water is first-entering MOST people`s homes/basements...no they do NOT. I`ve seen what they`ve done for 3 decades. Most homeowners get water in their basements,often along the floor-wall joint due to 1 or more of the following-
a) exterior cracks,cracked parging and other exterior openings in the wall in block,brick,stone basement walls
b) openings,gaps etc ABOVE ground such as open mortar joints,cracks in bricks,openings in-around-under basement windows or doors etc
c) possible blockage/clog in lateral line, possible problem with an existing sump pump/adjustment etc, possible need to CREATE openings in sump PIT WALL up higher/just under thickness of basement floor or a need to snake tile(s) that empty into the pit etc....these can allow water to accumulate UNDER the floor and then rise up through floor crack etc.ALSO,water can accumulate under floors and then rise up due to possible problem on CITY`s end,can handle the amount of water on some heavy-long rains.Could also be some sort of leaky-dripping city pipe as happened in Davenport Iowa to 'Kitty', see wqad-news-story.

So, the actual-solutions to anyones problem is to FIRST competently & honestly IDENTIFY how-where water is truly entering and then fix it correctly, some have more than one problem.

Those solutions for above stated problems are, exterior waterproofing or tuckpointing,replacing basement window,sealing gaps etc around windows/doors, always checking the lateral line and then if need be snake it,snake tile(s) that empty into pit or create openings in pit wall or adjusting-replacing existing pump or if its a CITY problem then THEY will need to repair leaky-dripping, busted pipe etc!

Interior/inside systems do NOT repair/waterproof exterior cracks or cracked parging,gaps and other openings on the OUTSIDE of block,brick,stone walls,they don`t snake lateral line,tuckpoint etc etc ANY of the above! Yet they ALL will try and tell homeowners OTHER things/supposed-causes to water in basement such as, a hydrostatic pressure problem under the floor (see above reasons for water under floor).

And still yet to be addressed in lateral soil pressure,underground roots,concrete slabs,porch footings etc which CAUSE many cracks or, cracks to WIDEN or a wall to bow inward or cause exterior parging to crack/deteriorate and the SUBSEQUENT leaks/seepage you get when these occur! Hello? Yeah sure, some cracks occur at,around,several months after a house is built. Those cracks can aslo widen due to clay/expansive soil,roots etc!

Inside system companies don`t do ANYTHING to relieve-lessen exterior lateral soil pressure, they don`t remove the clay or remove possible underground roots etc OFF the exterior wall AND, leave exterior cracks OPEN.

Then when have those who install inside systems and CREATE more openings/gaps inside peoples basements! They`ll drill holes in bottom blocks or leave the floor-wall joint/gap OPEN. This is where radon and other soil gases can easily enter peoples basements!!!

Those soil gases also enter exterior cracks and other openings in walls that inside system companies NEVER repair and, the exterior walls were NEVER 'waterproofed and not backfilled correctly'. Please do NOT try and tell the public that exterior wall were waterproofed when built,thats a lie/myth.Some were parged and backfilled w/same excavated soil,some damproofed and backfilled w/same excavated soil and so on. Parging and damproofing is NOT WATERPROOFING and backfilling with same excavated soil is not backfilling with all gravel, which is what should be done!

I`ll leave it here, have MANY,many photo`s to show-prove every word above