neighborhood news

Dear neighbors,
I have copied below the responses I received about basement waterproofing suggestions. Hope you find them helpful.

I also got news that another car was vandalized in a neighbor's driveway, during the day this time! The window was broken into...fortunately nothing very valuable was in the car. Please continue to lock your cars and call police if you see something suspicious.

See below for a note about a cat that needs a foster home for 6 months...sounds perfect for that child who wants a cat desperately but might tire of taking care of it in six months. (: See if you can help out....

There will be another Garage sale this weekend! Eva O'Brien at 1424 Cambridge Dr. and Sally Weinstein at 1288 Turnbury will have treasures out for you on Saturday, Sept 17 from 8 to 12.  Hope you can stop by!

Carol Pfister
gwyneddknoll@gmail.com
215-661-8775

We are looking for a temporary "foster home" for our daughter's 2 year old cat. Bennie is small, neutered, black and white cat with a sweet, affectionate temperament. He is current on all of his shots. Our daughter is moving home for approximately 6 months and we would gladly have Bennie stay with us if it were not for our dogs. Two of them are not cat-friendly. If anyone is interested and willing to consider taking Bennie during this time, we would be so grateful.  We would pick up cost of food, litter and any vet expenses that might occur. Please contact Marissa Weber at 267-240-4580 or Sue Weber at 215-699-4205


Basement suggestions:

Carol,  Fran's sump pump is too small for the volume of water coming into her basement slab drain system.  It will probably take a second pump or a bigger pump to correct.  To really be safe you need two pumps, each one with enough capacity to keep up with the water coming in.  Outside drains become really expensive as does waterproofing.  The basic problem is that these houses all sit on shale and water runs quite nicely through shale.  Some are even built on hedge rows which were formerly part of the farmer's drain system.

 

I am considering putting in an emergency, natural gas fired electrical back up system to power the sump pump, security system, refrigerator, gas water heater and hot air heater igniters and fans.  You can also add the stove igniter and microwave.  In this last storm, had we had a power failure our basement would have surely flooded again.

 

These can be purchased on line at Electric Generators Direct, www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com and installed, in our case by our HVAC Contractor that also does work at the plant.  A 7KW unit is about $1900 plus installation.  You can put in larger units if you want to include the Air Conditioning. 

 

Don Sedbury

We used STA-DRY in this house and our last house that was flooded by Hurricane Floyd…Loved them!!

609-344-3300 based in NJ.  From Rhona Fromm

We had flooding in our basement about 7-8 years ago. We chose Mid-Atlantic Waterproofing to install the French drain/double 36" crocks and double sump pumps around the interior perimeter of our basement. http://www.basements.com/

We have had good success with their system. However, I learned to keep an eye on the pumps and battery back-up with up-to-date models & warranty AND to check them for operation several times a year, regardless of how well they appear to be working. One of the pumps failed 2 ½ years ago and water did come in to the basement, teaching me the "keep checking" lesson.

 

If anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer what I can.

Elizabeth Dale

neighborhood news

Dear neighbors,
Do you think it will ever stop raining?? Hard to believe that about a month ago we were so dry and wishing for rain.....hope your basements are ok. Please see the note below from Fran, who unfortunately did get water in her basement and would like a recommendation for someone to water proof it. If you had trouble also lately, please let me know and we can compare notes. That last storm was the biggest in a long time so was an exception but would be good to help each other out with information now.

I also got a note about some more vandalism at a house on Uxbridge - damage done to a car parked on the street. It was reported to police. Do let me know if you have any trouble at your house...and continue to report any strange activity to the police.

I got a note from Karen Freeman that she and Tom have sold their home and will be moving to Florida for most of the year. I will really miss Karen - she has been very involved in neighborhood activities as a real estate agent and neighbor. She hosted many progressive dinners and many Christmas parties through the years. She has been a real champion of our beautiful neighborhood when needed and always had an answer to my questions. Many thanks for all that you have done, Karen!  She and Tom are hosting a moving sale this Saturday, Sept 10, starting at 8:00.  They have some nice antiques, some misc. furniture, a complete set of Minton china, the Bellemeade pattern with a service for 12, never used, and lots of odds and ends..  Hope you can stop by.

On the subject of garage sales...Eva O'Brien would like to try again for a sale - the last one got rained out. Anyone interested in joining in next weekend, the 17th? Please let me know if you would like to.

Lastly, I was driving out along 202 today and found that the sound walls have begun to go up south of our Hancock entrance! Looks like they will curve around into the entry way. I don't get out that way often so was surprised. Is anyone having issues with the construction, other than the obvious noise involved?

Thank you,
Carol Pfister
gwyneddknoll@gmail.com
215-661-8775

Carol-
Can you please email the neighborhood to see if anyone has a basement waterproofing company that they would HIGHLY recommend? We had a flood after Irene, the sump pump never stopped working, so we, obviously, want to find out why and ensure that it never happens again. :)
Thanks and I hope you had a great summer -
Fran Margolis