Come See Us, or We'll Come See You

What happens on an assessment visit

We walk the outside of the house first. Downspouts and where they discharge, the grade in the first couple of metres around the wall, window wells and their drains, and any visible cracking in exposed foundation. Most wet basements are explained before anyone goes indoors.

Then the basement. Where the staining actually is, whether the pattern runs along the floor-wall joint or points to a single entry, whether there is efflorescence on the masonry, and what the floor drain and any existing sump are doing.

You get told the cause, the range it costs to fix, and the cheaper options if they apply. A written quote follows, stating its own units and listing what is in and what is out, so you can put it beside anyone else's. Verified market ranges for everything are already published on our cost pages.

What is worth having ready

Photos of the problem at its worst, taken during or just after heavy rain, are more useful than anything you can show us on a dry day. If you have had water more than once, when it happened matters: only during downpours points at surface water, during sustained wet spells points at groundwater.

Any previous quotes, if you have them. We will tell you what they include and what they leave out rather than just underbidding them, and the questions worth asking every contractor are on choosing a waterproofing contractor.

If the house has been worked on before, whatever paperwork exists. Knowing that an interior system went in eight years ago changes the diagnosis considerably.