A Pain in the Drain

A pain in the drain
rainy spring, waterlogged basements

May 31, 2008
by Stephen Deere
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Jessir Carson of Woods Basement Systems work son securing PVC pipes that are part of a sump pump system in the home of Jerry Gibson in Chesterfield. Gibson decided to get the system after a couple inches of water flooded parts of his basement. Carson said basement water calls have his crew fixing those problems instead of their normal foundation work.

Jerry Gibson wandered down into his Chesterfield basement one day in March and noticed a wet spot on his carpet. He looked around and found water slowly seeping through the walls.

"It was coming n on three sides," he said. "You couldn't stop it."

He started calling basement waterproofing companies but quickly found out he wasn't the only one whose basement had grown soggy.

"Each one of them quoted me 10 to 12 weeks of lead time," Gibson said.

So far, the beginning of the year has been the wettest of any on record for the St. Louis area. More than 27 inches of precipitation has fallen at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, according to the Nation Weather Service. That's 12 inches above normal.

All that extra water had to find someplace to go.

From Illinois to St. Charles County, companies that specialize in waterproofing basements and repairing moisture damage are reporting a flood of business.

And last weekend's constant showers didn't help - especially in Wentzville, where rain caused sewer backups and flooded basements of 40 to 50 homes, said Mayor Paul Lambi.

"With the saturation of the soils, the basements reach a breaking point," said Dave Thompson, the marketing director for Woods Basement Systems.

The flooding is affecting houses all over, Thompson said, and the age of a home doesn't seem to matter. "It's happening to three-, 30- and 60-year-old houses," Thompson said.

With more people making media rooms out of their basements, it has become increasingly important to keep the space dry, Thompson said, noting that some to sink tens of thousands of dollars into home entertainment systems.

This past Tuesday, the phones at Woodard Cleaning and Restoration Services, a company that restores waterlogged carpets, would not stop ringing. In all, the company received 410 calls for help with water damage, said Scott Dieckgraefe, Woodard's marketing director.

"That is the second-highest in our history," he said. "The highest was this past March, when we recieved 430 calls in one day."

Scott Vandover, Woodard's vice president of restoration, said people should contact a restoration specialist within 48 hours of when they first notice water in their basement. Otherwise mold can set in, causing irrevocable damage. The company, located in Brentwood, uses high-tech probes to detect damage not visible to the eye and high-velocity commercial fans and dehumidifiers to combat moisture.

Woodard - unlike Woods Basement Systems - doesn't fix cracks in basements or install sump pumps to prevent future leakage. So once the company is finished drying out rugs or dry-wall out, home and business owners must decide how they want to prevent future water problems.

Many, Vandover said, do nothing and hope for the best.

"You would be surprised at how many residences we make multiple stops at every time it rains," he said.

Larry Case, executive vice president of the Missouri Association of Insurance Agents, said he hasn't noticed an increase in claims from homeowners with flooded basements, but that didn't surprise him. Insurance policies don't generally cover flood damage, he noted, unless people request it.

Until now, many haven't had much of reason to do so.

"There's been places that have flooded recently that have never flooded before,"Case said.

Jerry Gibson, a retiree, built his home 30 years ago. Because it's in a hilly area, he never expected the home would flood.

But he's having to rip up carpet and drywall and has hired Woods Basement Systems to install a sump pump to ward off water in the furture.

The tab? Nearly $10,000 and rising, he said. "It's an expensive lesson."

Woods Basement Wins Award

(As published in the Collinsville Business Journal on May 21st, 2008)
By. Dave Thompson
Woods Basement Systems

Wood Basement Systems of Collinsville was recently named the number one pier and anchor dealer within the Grip-Tite dealer network at the Grip-Tite convention in Orlando, Florida.

It is the first time a business has ever been named first as both pier and anchor dealer.

Grip-Tite's anchors secure and stabilize basement walls from damage they could incur with seasonal climate expansion and contraction of soils.

Grip-Tite's piers give homes a secure foundation to rest on; preventing further settling issues that effect many homes.

Rick Woods, the owner of Woods Basement Systems, in a press release attributed t he success of the company to having a great team. Woods Basement Systems is a family owned and operated business, who this year is celebrating their 23rd year in business.

"We follow the 'golden rule' and coach our team to do the same." Woods said in the release.

"Treat the customer as you would treat yourself and do not use high-pressure sales tactics."

For more information about Woods Basement Systems or to get free answers regarding home or business foundation, call 1-866-269-0332.

Recent Rains Leave Basements Flooded

April 2, 2008
By Will Buss
and Rickeena J. Richards
News-Democrat

Weeks of precipitation across the metro-east left many residents with flooded basements - and local hardware stores with a boost in business.

"We've sold out of sump pumps several times within the past couple weeks," said Dave Dyar, a clerk at Don's Hardware Parts Center in Swansea.

Dyar said the store had to resort to a secondary vendor to order more pumps.

"We just couldn't keep up with them all," he said. "And anything to go with the sump pump was a really hot item here recently."

That was also the case at Home Brite Ace Hardware in Belleville, assistant manager Frank Wesling said.

"During that big rain is when we started having problems with people coming in and getting sump pumps and shop vacs," Wesling said. "Anything that would pick up water out of the basement, they were buying."

Dyar said sump pumps can be the most effective method for homeowners addressing flooding, whereas shop vacuums can be handy for final cleanup.

"You'd be better off with a sump pump than a shop vac," he said. "Shop vacs are good for puddles, but for flooding it's just not going to do the continuous work. You'd be better off with buckets than a shop vac until the final cleanup."

Recent heavy rains increased the number of calls for Woods Basement Systems. The Collinsville waterproofing service usually fields between 100 to 200 calls a week, but marketing specialist Dave Thompson said recent weeks have produced as many as 600 per week.

He also attributes the recent spate of business to the fact that before the record setting precipitation for February and March, the greater St. Louis area had experienced a precipitation deficit over the previous two years. Thompson said that over time, the clay and footings within house basement had cracked.

"The footing does what our foot does for our body: it keeps it erect," he said. "that may have relaxed enough between the vertical footing and letting water in from the exterior. We've had calls from people who have lived in a house for 10 years and never had a leak and suddenly have leaks now."

Woods provides free booklets with advice about how homeowners can prevent water leaks. Thompson said that one of the most improtant tips he suggests to property owners is that they should make sure their downspouts send water as far as 7 feet from house, if not further.

"The further away, the better and less likelihood of it being there ponding in the yard," he said.

Ken Haas, a manager at Basic Hardware Center in Belleville, suggested making sure the land that surrounds a home slopes downward and away from its foundation so water runs away from the home.

This Family Business Cares for The Customer

Prospect Receives Picture of Salesman
By Phil Moses
Customer Connection Director - St. Louis Better Business Bureau

Coddling customers is the credo of the Woods family, owners of Woods Basement Systems in Collinsville.

The extent to which the company goes to educate its customers sets a high standard for managing expectations.

Twenty-plus years ago, founder Rick Woods and his wife Anna Lee enlisted their children in a new venture...keeping basement dry and repairing foundations.

Telemarketers

Wayne and Susan, still in high school at the time, scanned local phone books in a fledgling telemarketing campaign. (They and their spouses are now active in the company.)

Rick surveyed the problem, closed the sale, and installed the product.

Over the years, the care of the customer has become a finely tuned process.

When a lead generates interest, the potential client receives a customized orientation kit preceding the sales call.

Several Items

Depending on the need, the kit may include an 80-page book on waterproofing or crawl space improvement that defines trade terms and discusses the pros and cons of the problem; the applicable product brochures; and the company background.

The "kicker" is a sheet featuring a photograph of the salesman, supported by text covering his qualifications. (When its a service call, the homeowner receives a postcard with a photo of the technician.)

"No surprises" is part of the company doctrine.

Once installation has begun, the foreman takes photos that become part of the permanent client file.

To preclude "silent dissatisfaction" the foreman urges homeowners to call the service department.

Checklists Used

Operators then run through checklists with the caller that reinforce the thoroughness of the job.

Foreman are rewarded for efficiency and completeness.

These dollar "carrots" are balanced by "sticks:" penalties for faulty installations requiring call-backs.

Today, the Woods franchise is one of the largest of the 263 Basement Systems in the U.S. and five other countries.

Its spectacular growth, doubling every year since 2002, has required rigorous recruiting, evaluation, hiring and training.

With a hundred jobs on the books at any normal time, Woods must maintain continuous training schedules.

The job is not complete when the workers depart.

Woods conducts a regimen of follow-up activities including a phone call or postcard one month later, and another phone call a month later.

If there are any doubts about the Woods family's commitment, a visit to the home office will dispel them.

Just off the main, there's a nursery for the five youngest of the families' eight children including an on-site nanny.

And Rick Woods' wife, Anna Lee, is "grandmother in residence."

For more news about Woods Basement Systems, be sure to check our website at: http://www.woodsbasementsystems.com/!