The Crackman Podcast

The goal of a sump pump is to lower the water table that is underneath your basement floor. A properly installed sump pump with adequate gravel under your basement floor can solve most water problems through cracks in the floor or from floor/wall seams. In this episode, we discuss the various types of sump pumps and which one is likely best for your needs.

Cracks in concrete are a common occurrence, especially in New England with the harsh winters and numerous freeze-thaw cycles. A crack in your concrete floor is like have a window open in your house; it may let certain unwanted things in, such as: water, radon, water vapors, insects, and rodents. In this episode, we discuss the various types of cracks you can get and what to do about them.

According to the weather forecasters, a typhoon out in the sea of Japan is going bring Arctic temperatures to the Eastern half of the US in the next few days. That could make for a really busy week for you, the Crackman, but homeowners can save themselves a lot of agony if they follow some simple preventative tips for waterproofing their Home that we cover in this episode.

This episode takes us back to a time when buildings were constructed with coal as the main heating source. In this episode we discuss what a coal chute is and how you go about waterproofing them.

The Crackman recently went out on a job where the customer had never had leaks in her stone foundation and suddenly she was finding water in her basement. Certainly not an unprecedented event but the cause of this leak had a shroud of mystery surrounding it. Rich discusses the symptoms, the bizarre cause, and the fix action.

So, you would think that if you can put a man on the moon, surely you can build a house that doesn't leak where the floor and wall seams come together. In this episode, we discuss how it actually happens and what you can do to stop those pesky leaks.

Okay so you've heard of dally, galley, rally, and even a girl named Sally. But what in the world is a "lally?" Well here's a history lesson. It was in the late 1800s, and a guy named John Lally was upset and bewildered by buildings collapsing as a result of fires or inadequate support. So, he was in search of a solution. Then lo and behold...in 1898, in the town of Waltham, Massachusetts, a steel beam support column was invented by none other than John Lally, hence the name lally columns. In this episode we talk about what kinds of Lally columns are out there, their problems with leaks, and how to solve water issue related to lally's.

There was an article in last Sundayâ??s MetroWest Daily News, written by Zachary Comeau, titled â??Towns struggle to track missing waterâ??. The article highlighted 13 MetroWest towns throughout Massachusetts (Ashland, Medway, Hopkinton, Bellingham, Framingham, Holliston, Milford, Sudbury, Franklin, Hopedale, Natick, Southborough, & Northborough) and their trouble with water that is unaccounted for. According to the Department of Environmental Protectionâ??s water conservation standards, 10% is the maximum threshold of unaccounted water for any one community. Out of the 13 towns, Ashland was the worst of the group with 28% of unaccounted water, while Northborough was the lightest offender with only 5% of its water unaccounted for. The other towns who were above the 10% threshold were Milford (14%), Holliston (15%), Framingham (19%), Bellingham (20%), and Medway (22%). In this podcast, Rich talks about how infrastructure issues lead to unaccounted water and how it can affect you, the homeowner.

For many different reasons, water can pool beneath a basement floor. But just like in the martial arts where you have a variety of combat practices, people fighting basement water swear that their technique kicks butt over all the rest. In this episode, we pit the two juggernauts of basement waterproofing techniques--sump pumps and french drains -- in a head-to-head battle to see which solution is the champion.

Chimney leaks can either exist above grade...at the roof...or below grade. In this episode the Crackman discusses ways water can enter the house via the chimney and what to do about it.