8/25/2009

NAWSRC Regional Meeting - Nov 12th, 2009

NAWSRC 2009 Regional Meeting Atlantic City, NJ

This year's NAWSRC Regional Meeting will be held on November 12th, 2009.

It will be held in the exciting location of Atlantic City, NJ.


Hotel:


Atlantic City Hilton Casino
ResortBoston & The Boardwalk
Atlantic City, NJ 08401

The NAWSRC has special information about the hotel and accomidations. To read more about the hotel and the special pricing and conditions click here

To make reservations to attend the Northeastern Regional Meeting through the NAWSRC click here

Information about speakers and a calender of events will be posted shortly


8/17/2009

Reader Request: A Missouri Basement Waterproofing and Foundation Repair Company Suggestion

Silly me, I forgot to add a Grate Products contractor over in my "Home Improvement Links" Section over to the right - >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

So when I was asked in my comments, on my entry about Water coming in through the foundation of the House if I knew of a company in St.Louis. I smacked myself on the forehead for forgetting them.

Missouri Basement is a basement waterproofing and foundation repair company in St. Louis, MO that's been serving that area of the state for many years. Brining expert foundation repair knowledge and a keen understanding of the local landscape to the basements, they've been an amazing addition to the Grate Products Network of Contractors.

Recently the owner of the company started putting together some videos to help homeowners around his area understand the different processes and problems with fixing the basement the right way (as soon as I have a link to some, I'll post them!)

8/07/2009

Grate Products Flexi-Flange, what it is, what it does, and how it helps to control moisture in your basement.

Flexi-Flange isn’t one of the more popular products that Grate Products has produced, but it could be considered one of the most important.

The Flexi-Flange is designed to create the seal at the point where our Wall Protection Vapor Barrier meets the concrete of your basement floor. Its primary function is to close off access to the basement from under your basement slab and from behind our vapor barrier. At this point it also performs a few other key functions.

It protects the vapor barrier. The flange does this by lying on top of the vapor barrier. This makes sure that any of the concrete used to seal back the floor doesn’t interfere with the vapor barrier and keeps any separation from happening at the floor and wall joint.

The flexi-flange also allows the vapor barrier to continuously connect with the drain under the floor by allowing minor movements without breaking the seal with the concrete. This ensures continuous flow from the vapor barrier to the drain and stop point if water tries to jump the circuit.

For that homeowner with older, open back systems, the flange is designed to be reversible. This way we can retrofit most open back systems with wall protection and to seal off the open back system to provide true basement moisture protection. Without a vapor barrier and with an open channel in your drainage system you open yourself up to a list of hazards that many companies won’t speak about: added moisture and humidity, radon, bugs, and air from under your basement floor.

Considering that you had an open back system installed in the first place means that you were trying to have your basement waterproofed the right way. So this flange is designed to complete the design that wasn’t installed. Vapor barrier to protect your walls can be installed and your flange will close off the gap, easily sealing off the channel and allowing the vapor barrier to drain to the system without air, water, or other nasty things to jump the system back into your basement.

By creating the seal of the vapor barrier and drain the flexi flange becomes one of the most important sealed system aspects of any Grate Drain system. It’s a little known innovation by Grate Products, however it helps to maintain the system by simply existing. With no maintenance it’s a part that many homeowners forget about, however without it your vapor barrier might become damaged more easily, water might be able to jump the system and air would be able to flow up into your basement from under your floor.

8/05/2009

Santa Fe Dehumidifiers vs. Humidex – Forum conversation and Comparison

Conversation about Humidex vs. Santa Fe continues here.

Humidex basically pulls air from the outside to bring into the home. This causes some pressure changes in the basement that draws air from the outside and the first floor. This actually switches the natural flow of the air in the home causing more moisture and humidity to possibly build up in the basement.

This can lead to more humidity and increased dampness, which in turn leads to increased run time and electricity cost to run air conditioners in the rest of the home. They say you can run it for pennies a day, when in reality you're throwing your cooling and heating costs right outside by increasing the amount you heat in the winter, and air condition in the summer. (these can also be vented directly out of the home via the fan of the humidex, so you're systems will run more. )

Santa Fe Dehumidifiers only deal with the moisture and air that currently exists in the basement. This allows the airflow of the home to continue uninterrupted and be added to with moisture free and filtered air from the basement.

Air naturally moves through soil, slowly through the foundation and into the basement. From there it naturally rises through the home, 1st floor, 2nd floor, and eventually through windows or the roof of the home. This is known as Stack Effect.

Since moisture naturally moves with the air through the foundation anyway, the Santa Fe is designed to deal with the moisture as it migrates into your basement. The Humidex doesn’t deal with the moisture level in the basement and in fact can actually increase the moisture and humidity to unsafe levels by bringing air from the outside.

Sadly Humidex has sparked many debates on the proper techniques in venting basements and crawlspaces and mostly because of negative results with the product.

Venting a basement or crawlspace isn’t recommended and can actually introduce more mold, humidity and moisture.