$('audio,video').mediaelementplayer(); In this episode, Richard Comeras (aks “The Crackman”) shares some interesting vignettes on the history of lally columns along with some weird stuff he runs into as he inspects, repairs, and replaces them. My history with lally colums goes way back. My daughter and son-in-law used to work with me in the business. They were at a party in Hudson Mass. Some of their friends were there, also from Hudson, and my daughter heard...

$('audio,video').mediaelementplayer(); Basement wall cracks are somewhat common and you don't always need to panic when you see them. But, is there a concern with cracks that are wide enough that they can allow termites to infest your home? I just attended a conference of pest control companies and what they were talking about was that cracks that are less than 1/64th of an inch (that's really small) can allow termites and carpenter ants in. They...

$('audio,video').mediaelementplayer(); We've been fixing basement floor cracks for more than two decades, no one knows more than us. There are three things in life you can be sure of: death, taxes, and if you have concrete it is going to crack, you just don't know when or where. With basement floor cracks, oftentimes they crack because concrete is like a piece of raw spaghetti, if you have any movement at all it is going to...

$('audio,video').mediaelementplayer(); Just recently in Cambridge, MA, there was water coming into the home from around a new water pipe. The water company dug out in front of the house a little bit. Once you dig you disturb the soil which has been getting compacted for what could be around 100 years or for as few as five years. Either way, the rain compacts the soil which helps keep the water from coming into your home....

$('audio,video').mediaelementplayer(); These homeowners had just come home from the closing and thought the water in their basement was coming in from the chimney. They had a plumber come out because the water was right near the furnace and water heater which goes into the chimney. The plumber said everything was okay. So, I further explored with them over the phone on that Friday night. I asked if the water was coming in from where the...

$('audio,video').mediaelementplayer(); I had a Worcester firefighter call us up. He lives in Hudson, MA and he had water coming into his finished basement. He couldn't figure out how it was coming in. We told him to go outside and take a look at the wall where it seemed to be coming in from. As you know there can be anywhere from 3" of concrete to feet of concrete showing. He went outside and sure enough...

The leakage is coming in through a hole to the right of the stairs at the back wall of the garage. We believe the areas adjacent to the hole are wet from the single leakage source. Below is the photo and video of the leakage observed last week.  

$('audio,video').mediaelementplayer(); We are smack dab in the middle of Fall and during this tumultuous time of year, every day can bring it's own exciting conditions from heavy rain, to freezing conditions, and even snow. We try to always help our customers and others out there who have basement water problems. We've had some really heavy rains recently. One call that comes to mind was at 9:30pm on a Friday night. We got a call from...

$('audio,video').mediaelementplayer(); Winter is fast approaching and we are starting to get calls from homeowners with stone foundations about cold air and mice in the basement. The typical issue there is that these stone foundations are pretty old, usually 80 to 100 years old. Mortar, kind of like the glue, is what holds these stones together. Well, if we were that old, we'd get a little decrepit and so does the mortar in between the stones....

$('audio,video').mediaelementplayer(); We take good care of concrete. Concrete can start to look rough and pitted, we see this in New England all the time. This happens because water penetrates the concrete because concrete is porous. When the water penetrates, and then the concrete freezes, it can pop some of the concrete a little bit. That's when you see that rough spalling going on. We also use salts or materials that melt the ice, and the...