Three Options to Consider
We know we need to fix the basement. It's hard to blame the company that did the addition because, frankly, they warned us that we'd have problems if we didn't fix all the drain tile...someday. We hoped "someday" would come later rather than sooner. So we have three different options to pick as we decide how we are going to fix this problem.
1. Just replace the drain tile where there is known damage and add a 3rd sump pump...based on experience, I feel as though you fix the problem in one spot and then the problem just moves somewhere else. This is exactly what happened to us. This is by far the cheapest short term solution.
2. Just replace the inside drain tile with their fancy system. The company that we are considering will provide a warranty so we feel pretty good about that.
3. Replace the inside drain tile, basically redesign the sump crocks and (shutter) dig up the around the entire exterior perimeter of the house. The saleswoman wouldn't say "excavate" which started to irritate me. Instead a couple of guys are going to come with shovels and dig down to the frost line. How is that not excavating?
Option three causes me to have visible signs of stress...we have all that brand new landscaping out there, brickwork, gravel service path and DRIVEWAY. Since our walls are fine (everyone agrees that) I have a very hard time accepting option 3. It's also twice as expensive as option #2 and about five times as expensive as option #1. Therefore, it's not really an option.
July 2008
4 comments:
Sophie's Choice: the house, or the plants?
But there is nothing wrong with the walls! I'm struggling with coughing up (approximately) $30,000 to fix something that isn't broken and ruining the exterior of our living space.
I would probably choose option #1, but my lifespan is a lot shorter than yours. In life, there is always a jerk somewhere presenting Option #3's, and that only makes choosing #1 or #2 easier. Good luck.
What is the fancy system? I think I'd go with option #1 because I'd have a hard enough time dealing with $6000 bucks spent on the unexpected instead of $15K or $30K.
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