Start with conditions, not a product
Grading, roof discharge, hydrostatic pressure, a cracked wall, a floor-to-wall joint, or plain humidity can each produce the same damp Champaign basement, which is why the cause has to be pinned down before picking a fix.
Build a complete scope
- Where the water enters, established before a method is proposed
- Whether it is hydrostatic pressure through the wall or a surface-drainage failure
- What happens outside the wall -- grading, downspout discharge, and the sump line
- The interior work proposed, and what was ruled out before choosing it
- Restoration afterward, plus warranty terms and what voids them
Champaign context
Champaign grew from an 1855 railroad settlement into a city built on Champaign County's black prairie soil, ground that historic records describe as poorly drained enough to have supported a local clay drain-tile industry. That same drainage challenge, combined with the flat topography common across the county, is what keeps basement water intrusion a persistent concern in homes throughout the Champaign-Urbana area.