Hi as far as the O.C. basment finished system goes. I feel its very similar to a mobile home interior, they try to sell you on the waterproof and mildew/mold resistance. I have been a property damaged repair contractor in Ohio, Mich and Indiana for more than 20 years. The O.C. System doesnt hold up any better in a heavy moisture/waterdamage/flood situation. I would go with a standard studwall, wood or metal and drywall walls and ceiling. We finish 20 basements per year on average and build more than 30 additions on top of our fire and water work. If you have a serious moisture issue, deal with that first then finish the basement. The price is also high for what your are getting. As far as the rest of your do it your selfers. I have nothing against you save the fact you like to compare your work/quality/knowledge and cost to that of a licensed reputable contractor. Maybe you should try building your own vechicles, filling your own teeth, mending your wounds, butchering your meat and so on. Sure many of you can trip your way through a remodle project with varing results, especially in todays world where there are a million web sites to explain how to do just about anything. Home improvment seems to be the career many of you just can't seem to accept as a legitimate way of making an honest living. The real story is folks in the trades work all day long in the field, go home have dinner with their families then leave to visit homeowners like yourselves, most who wouldnt think of leaving work early to meet prospective contractors during business hours, but dont think a thing of "in the one case above" calling out 15-20 contractors for a free estimate more than likely at nite or on a weekend. Btw our professionaly finished basements start at $35 to $40 per square foot based on the scope of work and yes we dont feel comfortable with a gross profit of less than 30% much less than your mechanic, grocer, doctor, lawyer, or your local gas station. The average age of our employees and contractors is 52. Based on that in twenty years you will get to do all your home improvment projects your self and avoid paying a qualified contractor a well earned wage. Look out for that roof replacment!!! YOUR IGNORANT TO COMPARE YOUR SWEAT EQUITY TO A QUALITY CONTRACTOR If your employer did'nt earn a profit you wouldnt have a JOB

All; I am currently in the process of evaluating interior drainage waterproofing companies and I wanted to share my experiences so far. I am not expert in the field but from reading and talking to people over the past couple of years I have learned a couple of things concerning basements that have water problems. (a) first check to see where the water is coming from. Check your gutters, liters, e.t.c and make sure that they are clean. If your gutters are fine make sure that you have extenders at the bottom of your liters to push the water far away from the foundation of your house. If your gutters need replacing replace them. If you have water coming from around your windows putting in a interior drainage system is not going to solve your water problem. (b) the best kind of waterproofing is from the OUTSIDE NOT from the INSIDE. You want to prevent the water from coming into your house. WHERE PRACTICAL dig arond the foundation of your house and seal from the outside. All interior drainage systems do is route the water into your basement them back out via the sump pump. Inside drainage systems are practical when your house sits on a high water table (as in my case)or is below sea level. With interior drainage systems you are more prone to termites and radon gas getting into your home. Since I will be going with an interior drainage system I plan on monitoring the radon levels in my home. (c) Where practical check you walls for leaks. Seal all cracks with hydrolic cement or something similar. Below are the companies that I have met with over the years and my notes on each company. Most of them are bad and one is good. ValueDry - definitely one of the more expensive waterproofing companies. The first time I met with them was in 2008 for both homes. The reps were very informative and polite. When I called again this year (2010) the sales manager said that I could email him some questions since they had come out to see my primary home in NY already. He emailed me back a quote (still expensive) and told me that I had three days to consider (most of the other companies give you 30 days). When I emailed him back a few days later with another question he told me that since the three days has passed the "special price" that I had received was no longer any good! NOTE: turns out company is not licensed in the county of NY where I live. Sounds like the company didn't really want my business. American A-1 - my first time interviewing them. Read allot of good reviews about them on web. Checked references and the references were good. Had a good product at a decent price. Salesman was nice but was probably new on the job and not very knowledgeable. Tried to "con" me into buying stuff that I didn't really need. Really did not know his stuff. Tried to telll me that he had to drill a hole in my foundation BEFORE he could quote me a price and BEFORE we signed a contract. Guys who know their stuff will be able to look at the foundation near the floor and tell you what kind of foundation you have. I told him he could not just drill my floor BEFORE we agree on terms. So the deal was off. NOTE: turns out that American A-1 is under a company is not licensed to do work in the county of NY where I live. They told me that they were. American Dry Basement Systems - definitely has some of the most rude salesmen of all the companies that I have ecountered. My first experience with them was in 2008 in my home in NY. This guy was busy "bragging" about how great the company is but didn't want to leave us any references OR literature. He thought that since he lived in the area that it would be an easy sell. I tried to ask him questions and basically his answers did not make any sense. When I tried to point this out to him he talked all over me. Salesman didn't seem to knowledgeable when I asked him certain questions. Since I didn't have any work done in the basement in 2008 and I called them again in 2010 and thought I would give them a second chance. This time I got a guy that got rude with me over the phone. ADBM, if you are reading this you definitely need to send your guys back to school to learn how to talk to people. NOTE: ADBM is not licensed to do work in county of NY where I live. They told me they were. Vulcan - "The bigboys on the block" that have been around for years. So, since you have been around since 1949 why do you only offer only a 10 year guarantee when the other companies that have not been around as long as you offer 25 years or more? Price came in way less than the other competitors. Is it because your company offers a different kind of conduit for the water (polyethylene) which cost less is not as strong as PVC pipes? Salesman was also prone to bragging. Could not give me an answer why they only guarantee for 10 years. Also, why are you not a member of the National Association of WaterProofers and Structural Repair Contractors. I couldn't get a straight answer on this either. Salesman didn't seem too knowledgeable. Most states require a dedicated line for the sump pump. Salesman who claims to have been in the game for a long time did not know this! Mid-Atlantic - met with them back in 2003. Salesman was very nice but when he saw that we had a finished basement (one part is a office, the other part is a living room area. we also have a tiled floor) the look on his face was "man, is your basement going to get jacked up by the time that we get done with it". He was very honest in telling us that the area would really get messed up with the jack hammering and everything else that had to be done. I believe he quoted me a price of $12,000 back then to do two walls. Good thing I didn't have it done then! Why? (a) that was during the housing boom when prices for everything concerning a home was much more expensive so quotes for waterproofing was also more expensive back then also (b) if I only had two walls done I would have had to call them back to do the other two walls years later because now my entire basement floods in comparison to just one section of the basement. 1st Quality Basements Systems - meet with this salesman about my home in NJ back in 2007 or 2008. Very courteous and professional. I believe he quoted me a price that I thought was too high for me to pay for an investment property that I was already loosing money on (might have been $7000). Ended up just putting a sump pump in the basement. Still have a water problem just not as bad. If I ever do have to waterproof this house I would find this person's business card and contact him. This company is part of Basement Systems Inc which the below company is also a part of. They are totally independent of each other. Basement Systems of New York - very good experience so far. The salesman was very knowledgeable. I met with them a few days ago concerning my home in NY. The salesman broke everything down to me in simple terms that I could understand (now I know the difference between monolithic and two slab foundations). Waiting to hear back from them on a quote. If the numbers add up I will go with this company. Note: all of the companies that were not licensed in the part of NY where I lived wanted to charge me MORE MONEY to do the job than companies that were licensed in NY. That seems real backwards to me. If anything, they should charge me LESS!!! I read a a good article on the Bob Vila website about basement leaks. It is attached below. It is definitely recommeded reading for anyone who wants to understand basement leaks. Feel free to email me with any questions at max4ever69@gmail.com Best, Max

We are finishing our basement for our own use right now -- but before this -- I've always said that buyers would love our home - until they saw the basement. We have put thousands of dollars into our home: new windows, new cherry floors, new kitchen (addition), all new bathrooms, etc... But, when you walk downstairs to the basement you are greeted by nasty walls with seepage stains and dusty concrete floors. We had the walls taken care of (rod holes and cracks) but they are still ugly. Eventually, they will be insulated and dry-walled. My DH insists on a powder room even though it was not plumbed for one -- it was $1,700 for the sink and toilet rough in. I don't expect to ever recoup the investment on our finished basement when it is done -- but we could never sell it the way it is. At a minimum -- I would paint the floor and walls so it looks nice -- that is after making sure walls don't leak or seep. Another interesting option is spray painting the ceiling black -- our friends did this to their quasi-finished basement and I think it looks great.

Way to go! At $0.80/sf you can't go wrong. Honestly you can't. At that price I would have said to heck with the flatness rating! I'd accept a bit of bounce for a floor that price. And don't be so sure about vinyl planks and being able to save them once a flood occurs. To save a vinyl floor, you need to pull up the floor VERY quickly (as in an hour or so of the water incursion). You have to be SUPER careful because the edges break VERY easily. And you have to assume 25% breakage/loss of vinyl because of the removal process (yes it is THAT high). Then you have to be able to clean each and every plank (tub filled with a mild bleach solution). They need to be dried and then exposed to UV rays (laid out on the lawn in full sunlight) to kill the last of the bacteria/mold. And then you have to rack them out properly while you clean up the basement. And then the install can begin. Which assumes you purchased the 25% extra and kept it properly stored for just such an event. If you didn't purchase enough extra, then you need a new floor anyway. Man made products are only on the shelves for roughly 18 months and then they are never to be found again. Let me tell you, you are miles ahead with an laminate like the one you purchased. With 100sf of extra product, you can easily replace a large section of your basement without having to purchase another floor all together.