Customer Reviews

The Original Basement Waterproofing Handbook

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4 star:		(1)
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This was a great, great purchase for me. I was getting very confused about what to do with my basement...and in the first chapter Jack Masters discusses how there are so many opinions out there. I had to read a few times, but afterwards I felt really educated about my options while talking to local companies. Perhaps best of all Jack Masters is kind enough to trade emails and is a good neutral expert weighting my options once I got going. If you are having a water problem this is the way to go.

Having just purchased a home, and an old one at that, I was quickly becoming more and more aware of potential problems with our foundation. Having nearly been ripped off by a basement waterproofing company using high pressure sales tactics, I felt that I needed to arm myself with necessary knowledge regarding the waterproofing of our house.

I bought this book looking for an overview of the topic and it was exactly that. Some basic knowledge for homeowners as well as some more in depth knowledge that's nice to know, though you may not ever put shovel to ground with it. Also, most useful, is that this book includes several pricing guidelines for certain services (if I had this book before the salesman came to our door, I would have laughed hard at his initial $18,000 estimate).

Waterproofing is a serious investment, if you have a home that might need some waterproofing done, this book will at least prepare you with the basic concepts to understand the process. But don't assume that this is the only book you need! It's an overview and only that. For more information you need to crawl various internet forums.

With this book I learned how to do the drains myself at the cost of around 1200 (cutting no corners) vs 2 contractors bidding me both around 10K,
and if you are not capable of doing your work yourself its just as good to spend the 30$ on the book so you don't get ripped off by a contractor that will most likely take short cuts and b.s. you that they have encountered a "problem" somewhere along the way
Jack is very personable when you call him on phone.
~M.Burke Nyack, NY

This should be the one book you refer to when deciding how to tackle your basement waterproofing job. Jack gives a detailed account of what steps you need to take to keep your basement bone dry. He also provides individual advice and will answer any questions you have regarding your particular project. Be sure to buy the latest copy of his book , as he constantly updates his book with the latest products and pricing. I have read several other basement waterproofing books and none of them were as good as this one. You can't go wrong with this book.

I read this book to understand how Basement Waterproofing should be done. I used this knowledge to compare how each contractor does basement waterproofing job. Also I learned what products need to be used for drain, pump capacity and how to get contractor install system that will last longer.

Also, author of this book, Jack Masters, was very helpful in answering questions that I had from meetings with basement waterproofing contractors.

I definitely recommend this book for people who wants to waterproof their basements. Cost of this book is negligible compared to waterproofing system you will install.

I purchased the second edition of this book years ago. When I got a huge estimate from one contractor I knew it was time to become educated about basement water proofing. I looked for helpful information but either it didn't address my problem or it didn't explain things so I could understand them. After all, I'm a home owner, I don't work in the construction industry. This book got me up to speed quickly!

I learned from this book that it's very important to understand and diagnose water basement problems. There are plenty of people out there to sell you a solution, but how can a home owner possibly know if their solution is the right one or not is the frightening part.

We bought a home with a basement. There was a water issue and it was panic time. We knew nothing, never even heard of a French Drain before or knew what that was. This book was extremely helpful, plus Mr. Jack Masters the author of the book advised us via email. All of this for the price of a single copy of the book, and the result is the last 12 years living here we have had zero water basement issues even during the hurricane. Now I actually run a humidifier in the basement during the winter months because it's so dry.

If you have a basement you need this book to educate yourself. If you know of a young couple who bought their first home with a basement, I highly recommend you do them a giant favor and get them this book as a gift.