Freezin' for a Reason! The Basement Doctor presents the 16th Annual Polar Plunge at Express Live

The Basement Doctor was proud to be the presenting sponsor of the 16^th annual Polar Plunge on February 3^rd at its new location, Express Live!  All proceeds from the plunge went directly to support 26,000 Special Olympics Ohio athletes.  This fun event included a costume contest and an after-party hosted by DJ MDizzle.

Special Olympics has made it their mission to ensure that no athletes or their families are financially responsible for participating. Similar to last year, all plungers were required to raise a minimum of $75 ($50 for students) in pledges. This year, plungers had the option to register as ‘Too Chicken To Plunge’ and were required to raise a minimum of $30. The event was a success raising over $108,000 total!

As well as our sponsorship, Team Basement Doctor had 29 participating plungers and raised over $1,500! Many employees made donations and were present for the event to show their support.

“It was great to see so much community support for this wonderful organization. I am proud to be a part of the Polar Plunge year after year," said Ryan Bolin, Sales Manager for The Basement Doctor. "Looking forward to seeing many new faces in 2019!”

Team Basement Doctor doubled in size this year and we hope to grow even more next year! For more information about Special Olympics Ohio, please visit their site here.  

To see all of the great pictures and videos from the event, please visit our Facebook page.

The Basement Doctor featured in national industry publication US Builders Review

The Basement Doctor is excited to be highlighted in a special case study done by US Builders Review, a nationally recognized trade publication for contractors, developers, and leaders in the construction industry.

US Builders Review aims to provide insights into some of the country's fastest growing companies, and they chose The Basement Doctor thanks to our long-standing reputation in the Central Ohio Community, and our innovative solutions for basement finishing and crawl space encapsulation.


Read the full article here.

Expert Tips for Winterizing your Home

With cold weather comes high utility bills and the potential for costly damage to your home due to weather-related events. Each year we find a good number of emergency calls we receive could have been prevented with some basic home maintenance. A house that is not properly winterized will consume more energy and cost more money.

Thankfully, The Basement Doctor has the prescription to keep money in your pockets, and can offer helpful and easy advice for protecting your house this winter. Below you will find The Basement Doctor’s “Top 5 Tips” for winterizing your home. 

1. Keep outlet at the street free of ice and snow.
 

The No. 1 reason a basement floods in the winter is due to frozen or clogged sump pump discharge lines. When plows push the snow against the outlet lines on the road, the water in this line that is coming from your gutters and sump pump has nowhere to go but back into your basement. This eventually floods the sump pump basin and ultimately you basement. A wooden stake at your curb to mark where your sump pump discharge line is located will help you find it when your curb is full of ice and snow. 

2. Ensure gutters are clear to help prevent ice damming.

Ice dams are a buildup of ice that forms over leaves and gutters, and they are caused by snow melting on the roof. Once an ice dam has formed, it will continue to trap melted snow above that will then back up into the shingles and leak into your home. This causes wood rot, wet insulation and drywall deterioration, structural damage, and dangerous mold and mildew. Ice dams on a home are a sure indicator of air leaks, a warm rooftop and low insulation.

3. Seal leaks and cracks to save money. 

Look for air leaks around windows, doors, electrical outlets, pipes, and receptacles on exterior walls. We recommend closed cell spray foam as a replacement to fiberglass insulation.

4. Try to maintain constant indoor temperature

Do not turn the thermostat up and down to help reduce energy consumption and keep relative humidity at acceptable levels. The newer programmable models allow homeowners to set a lower temperature while away or asleep and raise the temperature when needed.

5. Make sure you have the proper insulation in the attic.

Click image to enlarge.

R49-R60 blown in insulation in the attic is specific to the Ohio region. This is approximately 15.5 to 19 inches of insulation.

A free energy exam from The Basement Doctor can help you determine if your house has the proper amount of insulation and can uncover your home's top energy offenders.

 

The Basement Doctor proudly supports Maria's Message at Central Ohio High Schools

On September 17, 2013, Maria Tiberi, daughter of 10TVs Dom Tiberi, lost her life in a tragic car accident. The cause of the accident? An unknown distraction. Since that time, Maria's parents have made it their mission to educate the public through their important campaign, Maria's Message, and The Maria Tiberi Foundation.

This fall, The Basement Doctor proudly partnered with 10TV and Maria’s Message to spread the word on the dangers of texting while driving and other dangerous distractions on the road. Each Friday night for ten weeks, the First and Ten tailgate party went to a local high school and set up a tailgate event. Maria’s Message was there and provided a booth where teens and other event-goers used driving simulators to experience first-hand the dangerous effects of distracted driving. Once they experienced the simulator, they were asked to take Maria’s Pledge not to text and drive and remain focused on the road. Pledgers then had the opportunity to spin The Basement Doctor Prize Wheel, where they could win prizes from several local businesses and restaurants in their community.

Taking it one step further, The Basement Doctor created a competition amongst the schools to further encourage students to take the pledge and learn more about Maria's Message. The school with the most pledges at the end of 10 weeks would win a large donation to their athletic department. We tracked the progress on social media and had a great response from the schools.  Hilliard Darby high school came out on top with 167 pledges. The Basement Doctor presented them with their donation at a basketball game on January 27.

Maria's Message and The Maria Tiberi Foundation continue to raise funds to purchase simulator distracted driving machines, which further raise awareness among drivers of all ages to the dangers and challenges of distracted driving. The Basement Doctor encourages anyone interested in this cause to visit www.mariatiberifoundation.org for more information. A full gallery of pictures from the tailgate parties as well as the pledge numbers of each school can be found on The Basement Doctor's Facebook page.







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The Basement Doctor and the American Pie Party Team Up to Fight Cancer #pieitforward

As of 2015, Tony Sobony, a retired school teacher from Columbus, Ohio, has taken well over 60,000 cream pies to his face. Why? Sobony, along with his American Pie Party organization, has made it his mission to raise money to fight cancer through humor. Over $50,000 has been raised in Columbus, Ohio, thanks to the efforts of Sobony, local businesses, countless volunteers and celebrities who have taken pies to the face or helped organize “Pie Party” events in the community.

Ron Greenbaum, The Basement Doctor, recently took a pie to his face to help support this organization.

“When I met with Tony and saw his passion, and the creativity behind the American Pie Party, I knew I had to get behind this cause,” he said. “I don’t know anyone whose life hasn’t been affected by Cancer. It is an honor to help in any way I can.” 

Greenbaum participated in the 2015 American Pie Party Special Events Calendar, and will be taking a second pie from a cancer survivor at a “National Pie Day” party on January, 23, at The Shamrock Club. At the party, cancer survivors, their friends and family, and local celebrities like Greenbaum will take pies to the face to raise additional funds. The cost to attend is a minimum donation of $10. Cancer survivors are free.

The events calendar is dedicated to cancer survivors and is sold for a minimum $10 donation to Greenbaum’s anti-cancer charity of choice. Anyone can participate in the “Pie Party” movement by nominating someone to take a pie in the face or hosting their own event. The Basement Doctor will be using the hashtag #pieitforward to promote and support the cause on social media.

More information about the party and the history of the organization can be found on www.americanpieparty.org.

Event Details

Where: The Shamrock Club, 60 West Castle Road, Columbus, OH 43207

When: “National Pie Day” Friday, January 23, 2015 at 7:30 p.m.

Cost: $10 minimum donation, free for cancer survivors

Who: Celebrities accepting whipped cream pies in the face from cancer survivors, friends and family who support the fight to eradicate cancer.

The Basement Doctor partners with United Way of Licking County for a "Week of Caring"

 For 19 years, The United Way of Licking County successfully organized a Day of Caring, a day of community service projects and volunteerism to benefit the residents in their community. To mark their 20th year, the nonprofit organization decided to expand its Day of Caring to a full week. The Basement Doctor was proud to participate as one of 12 site sponsors, donating both time and the use of a truck to help collect donated items throughout the week.

The mission of The United Way of Licking County is to unite the community to improve people's lives in the areas of education, health and income. The Week of Caring event gave residents a chance to get involved without the limitation of one business day. The week kicked off on September 21, and ran through September 27. In addition to traditional volunteer projects, the Week of Caring featured themed donation drives. Each day of the week, residents could drop off items at multiple sites throughout the county to match that day's particular theme. Themes included books and baby needs, toiletries and blood drives, animal needs, and kids' coats.

Over the years, The Basement Doctor has been involved in many different capacities with The United Way of Licking County. As a donation site sponsor for this event, we helped coordinate volunteers in the mornings and the afternoons throughout the week to collect and distribute the donated items.

"Items went to several different charities around Licking County, including Goodwill, local food pantries and animal shelters," said Sarah Witt, HR Director for The Basement Doctor. "Our trucks were stuffed to the top with all of the donated items."

Botched Crawlspace Stabilization Job Becomes A Nightmare For West Jefferson Homeowner

With nearly 5,000 residents, the Village of West Jefferson in Madison County Ohio is located just 12 miles outside of Columbus.  It is quickly becoming one of the county’s fastest growing industrial communities. In addition to being the home for many large distribution centers including Target, Restoration Hardware, Mars and Petcare, West Jefferson is also home to Battelle, the world’s largest not-for-profit research and development organization.

One member of this growing community was experiencing some issues with her sump pump. She could not reach anyone from the company that installed it and later found out that they were no longer doing business in Ohio. She then contacted our call center to schedule a Free estimate with one of our Basement Doctor experts to have her sump pump checked before more heavy rains hit the area.  Jim Shore, one of our Annual Maintenance Service associates, was able to work her in to his schedule that same day.

Once in the home, Jim found that the sump pump was going bad and recommended a replacement.
He also noticed that the pump was plugged in to a 100ft extension cord that ran along the inside of the crawlspace. The homeowner explained to Jim that the previous contractor ran that extension cord through the crawl, drilled a hole in the floor of the bathroom and plugged the sump in the outlet there. This was a huge red flag for Jim since Ohio code requires that a sump pump be run on a separate circuit. Jim asked the homeowner if it was OK for him to look at the rest of the work throughout the crawl space that the previous company performed for her. She gladly approved his request and he proceeded with his analysis.

During his inspection, Jim came across some floor jacks sitting on concrete block, which was also on top of a vapor barrier. Certified professionals in our field know that support jacks should be installed first and encapsulation is done after the foundation is secured. He also noticed that the jacks were sinking down into the dirt, pulling the liner down into the soil and revealing that they were unstable. Upon coming out of the crawlspace, Jim showed the homeowner the pictures he took while he was in the area so that she could see all of the issues. She then exclaimed,  "OH! I guess that's why that is doing that," while pointing to a wall that had separated from the ceiling. Jim asked what the main purpose of the original work was to focus on and the homeowner replied structural. However, they pushed the encapsulation telling her it would all be OK. At that point, Jim recommended having a 3rd party Structural Engineer come out to re-assess what was going on so that the homeowner could feel more comfortable having another professional opinion on the work performed. She agreed.

The structural engineer met Jim at the home and began inspecting the floor jacks and joists in thewhole-home crawlspace. His finding was that the inadequate jacks were used (those available at Home Depot). They were also installed in the wrong locations, offered no load baring support, and the foundation the jacks were sitting on was not prepared properly. Visually, you could see the floor was not level and that the main beam were cracking under the weight of the home. Jim suggested that the current jacks be removed, concrete bases be poured to ensure structural rigidity, and seven PowerPost crawlspace stabilization jacks be installed in the appropriate locations to properly support the home. The homeowner agreed with Jim’s proposed remedy and was scheduled with our Production Department.

Calvin Sparks, Foreman, went to the home on a Saturday to pour the concrete footers for each jack Mike Jenkins, Service Manager, arrived on Monday to install the Power Post crawl space support jacks. With careful positioning and properly torquing the posts into place, Mike was able to restore the structural integrity of the home. You can actually see the crack in this beam which is now closed due to adequate stabilization.

The stress of dealing with a sub-par contractor, improper products purchased at a hardware store, and a company that won’t stand behind their warranty had caused this homeowner many sleepless nights. The Basement Doctor team was happy to help this sweet homeowner and give her the peace of mind she deserves.