The Original Basement Waterproofing Handbook Paperback – June 9, 2017

I had a minor water problem in my basement. After a hard rain the water came in between the wall and the floor in certain spots. We wanted to finish off our basement but needed to address the water problem first. After doing some research I found this book on Amazon and after reading the reviews I bought it and read it. Jack's book helped me understand my problem and what needed to be done to fix it. I had a very reputable contractor come in and give me a quote for a 60 foot system for $5000. Like any other DIYer I wanted to save some money but I wanted to do it right too.After a month of planning to find the right materials I got started. About 2 months later of working nights and weekends I finished. It was A LOT of work, not for the average DIYer. I wouldn't recommend doing it for 90% of the DIYers out there. It is not easy. I think I got lucky and didn't have any major problems other than giant rocks I needed to pull out. A lot of planning, a lot of 5 gallon buckets of dirt, a lot of bags of concrete. When I bring people downstairs to show them what I did, they can't believe I did all that myself. I ended up doing a 100 foot system. I went above and beyond what the contractor had originally quoted me because I wanted to eliminate all possibilities of water since I am finishing my whole basement. Everything ended up costing me about 1500-2000 with all the equipment rental and material. I think based on the extra work I did I ended up saving at least 5000 doing it myself vs the contractor.I have some suggestions which will save some of you who are taking the path that I took:1) The gravel - Apparently nobody outside the state of Pennsylvania knows what #2B gravel is. It appears to be a Pennsylvania state DOT specification. No rock quarry in NH knew what I was talking about when I called them. What's worse the specification has been outdated and is now called AASHTO #57. The specs on the rock is 1.5" stone with some smaller quantities of 1" and .75" in it. I had found the #2B specification somewhere. What I ended up doing was buying 1.5" crushed stone from the local stone yard and taking some 1/2" metal screen I bought at HD and filtering it out to get the small pieces out of it. This I felt got it reasonably close to the #2B spec ("good enough for my house" saying applies here). Then I spread the stone all over my driveway and washed it multiple times with the hose to get all the stone dust off of it. I ended up using about 2 yards of this for my 100' system.2) 9 mil plastic sheeting is impossible to find. I used 10 mil sheeting. You can actually find it here on Amazon, it comes in a 20'X100' roll and costs about 200 shipped. You can also get it from Home Depot online.3) The sheet drain - Mira Drain and Aqua Drain that Jack suggests can only be found at contractor specialty suppliers. The other problem is that the dimples on those sheets are about an inch. On my house that would have been a major problem because the concrete floor over the footing was an inch in some spots so it wouldn't have worked. I found 2 great options: Lowes sells this sheet drain from NDS in either 4'X25' sheets ($100) or on a 6"x50' or 1'X50' (can't remember) in the department where they sell all the slot piping. The dimples on this sheeting is about 1/4 inch. It comes with a fabric on it, just peel the fabric off. The residual glue is great because it helps keep the sheets in place before you concrete. If your Lowe's doesn't have it in stock, check other Lowes stores in the area. The other option that would work if you can't get this stuff called Cactus Board from Basement Systems. If you email them direct, they will sell you the board for like $1.57 a foot. It should work fine. I didn't need it but that was my backup plan.4) Lowes has a way better selection of all the pipe fittings than HD. There's pipe fittings for home plumbing and then there's pipe fittings for this drain piping. All made by NDS. I used this stuff for my tees, couplers and cleanouts. The tees and cleanout adapters I had to cut down to reduce the height so I could make the top of the cleanout flush with the floor. I put cleanouts every 20 to 25 feet where it made sense. Use your judgement.5) Concrete - I used the 5000 psi high early strength quikcrete stuff at HD where I rented the mixer. The stuff was awesome, you could walk on it in 12 hours.6) Pump - I used the Zoeller M53 with the Zoeller 30-0181 check valve, found here on Amazon for the best price. It is a very nice pump, don't use the junk they sell at the box stores. Make sure you follow the pump and check valve directions carefully on how to plumb it.I'm not an expert, use my suggestions at your own risk. I'm just passing my knowledge along to save someone else some of the hassle I went through. There's more than 1 way to skin a cat, every contractor you talk to does it a different way and uses different materials but the principles remain the same. Be smart about what materials you choose.The only bad thing I have to say about the book is that it doesn't 100% clearly spell out the exact items you need and where to get them. You kind of have to dig around on your own. But it is by far the best resource I found out there. If you're smart enough to handle this project on your own, you'll be able to fill in the blanks yourself.In the end I would do it over again. Jack by the way is great at responding to emails, help talked me through some things. Thanks Jack for the great book.

The author of this book is GREAT! I built a new house, and I'm having a lot of problems with the basement, I'm in a law suit with the contractor. I hired 2 engineering companies and got their reports. I contacted the author after reading his book, which he wrote for somebody like me that has never done construction. The author was more than willing to help me out, I sent him both engineering reports, that were not small by any means at all. What came next just astounded me. With in a week or less started a series, of very detailed lengthy emails that were written so I could understand them! This author broke down the engineering reports, explained the problems that I'm having and would then go into detail of how they needed to be fixed!! He did have me go and take other pictures for him, what he called "forensic work." He was even calling me during the week to make sure I got his emails, and this was even during the holidays! This author was also making sure that I contacted a lawyer to help protect myself legally since the contractor has messed up, and very thoroughly explained his position. Yes, I have forwarded all his information to my attorney.I can not say enough how this author has helped me out. He is very knowledgeable in his field and I highly recommend his book! He did so much work and took the time to call and explain in detail even further than his emails just so I could have an even better understanding. GREAT guy and author!!!!

I first purchased this book back in 08 from a recommendation of a contractor I know. I started buying homes and rehabbing them and I wanted to learn more about waterproofing and my options. I read the book and decided I was going to try it out for myself as its didn't look to difficult... just lots of hard work. I paid 350 for a hilti 905 demo hammer and started removing the interior strip of concrete. It took me roughly 2 weeks to remove all the concrete and dig the dirt out as I work full time and did this after work when i had time. After I waterproofed the basement i finished it and it has been bone dry every since. I started waterproofing another property I bought a month ago but decided to upgraded to the Hilti 1500 and its awesome for this.... this probably saved me roughly 7k completing the work myselg and its not for everyone ( as it is back breaking work) but I plan on doing it many more times with my homes in the future so it was worth it for me to learn how to do it and get the tools needed.... and Jack was great. I had a question regarding the process because my situation was a little unique as my cinderblock had 3 hollow walls rather than just 2. I called the number not expecting to get Jack or be able to speak with him but about 15 minutes after I left a message he called me back and we spent about 15 minutes on the tele. I was amazed at this. Thanks Jack!

This is a highly informative book and I am very glad I bought it. It explained all the steps of interior and exterior waterproofing very clearly and it helped me to sort through the conflicting solutions being presented by contractors bidding on the job. What was even more helpful was the personal communication I had with Jack Masters regarding our specific foundation needs. We are facing a large financial outlay to fix our foundation problems but I feel reassured that the work is necessary and that we are not being duped by contractors having spoken to him as an independent consultant. Thank you Jack!

Great reference book. Might be a tad outdated. Great for anyone that wants learn how to waterproof the RIGHT way.

best book ever