Archive for the News Category

I came across an ABC news article about a man in Bozeman, Montana that caught my eye.  The article is about a man who is an Economist turned builder.  Now this story doesn’t seem that unique, however, upon reading further, the man’s selection of materials is.  He is constructing his houses entirely from American- Made products.  In other words everything that goes into this house, he has researched to make sure that the product was actually made in good old USA. This is something that other professional contractors, like me, should take note.  Now why is this so interesting?  He claims that if every builder bought just 5% more American- Made materials, it would create an additional 220,000 jobs!  I don’t know about you, but if someone told me that if I made a conscious effort to run my business by purchasing only 5% more American-Made products, the US economy could greatly benefit; I would say that’s a win-win opportunity.  The economy wins because this is a new job creator, and I win because it becomes an opportunity for me to educate clients that we are doing our part to help the economic recovery.  Wouldn’t you as a homeowner, thinking […]

Now that we know what to look for to identify possible problem areas in our leaky basement, we will focus on what solutions are out there in the marketplace.  I have found that the solutions tend to be categorized into three divisions:  The exterior major surgery approach:  Some basement waterproofing companies feel that the best and only way to truly guarantee that a basement won’t leak is to perform major work to the exterior of the building.  The theory behind their thinking is to stop the water from ever having a chance to get into the basement.  This actually is a very sound approach to the problem.  It is very expensive.  For those who can afford this and can afford the construction consequences that go along with it, this is the right approach for them. What this solution entails is the digging up of the entire perimeter of the home; applying proper measures to the existing foundation wall (generally this is a patented system that each company is promoting as their exclusive cure all system); applying their waterproofing and  drainage system; and then refilling the trench with gravel and finally dirt.  The homeowners  are then left with reinstalling landscaping, walkways, […]