Firm works to keep basements, crawl spaces dry

Dan Malsh likes to tell customers that there are three different services he provides under the umbrella of Rainy Day Basement Systems.

There are his standard services of fixing wet basements and waterproofing nasty crawl spaces. But through a partnership with a sister company, Foundation Supportworks Inc., Malsh said he now provides customers with foundation repairs, including fixes on sagging floors or cracked and settling foundations.

Making foundation repairs part of what Rainy Day Basement Systems has to offer just makes sense when you are talking about fixing a house from the ground up.

“We are broadening our repertoire to foundation repair,” Malsh said. “If they have a sinking basement floor or a wood floor that is settling or is soft or unstable, that’s what we can fix.”

But making basements dry and waterproofing nasty crawl spaces remains “our bread and butter,” said Malsh’s wife, Lovisa.

The couple co-owns the Arlington-based Rainy Day Basement Systems. The Malshes’ business is the exclusive regional dealer for Basement Systems Inc., a Seymour, Conn., company. Dan and Lovisa Malsh are among the hundreds of independent contractors across the country.

Rainy Day Basement Systems has gotten endorsements from some big names, such as Bob Villa of “This Old House,” and has been featured on the Discovery Channel show “Dirty Jobs,” because some crawl spaces can really be downright dirty, Dan Malsh said.

Malsh has been on crawl space jobs where he’s had to clear out rat-infested areas or dead animals, or clear away decaying wood or shoo away an occasional raccoon.

“The lion’s share of our business is crawl space,” Malsh said. “We make crawl spaces clean and dry and healthy. Quite often it makes a big difference in the air quality of the home.”

Malsh explained that a house draws up much of the air from the crawl space through the house, so if the air in the crawl space is unhealthy, cold or moist, that air will be unhealthy in the home.

To solve that problem, Malsh uses an “encapsulment system” to seal off a wet basement or crawl space. By using a special heavy, seven-layer membrane that is caulked, sealed and fastened to the walls, the moisture can’t get through.

The cost of these services varies depending on the size of the job. Malsh offers a free inspection and gives a lifetime warranty on basements and a 25-year warranty on crawl spaces and foundation repairs.

“When I fix a basement, I guarantee it for the lifetime of the home,” Malsh said.

With a wet winter predicted, visitors to the sixth annual Everett Fall Home & Gift Show might ask Malsh about such things as whether to install check-water or back-water valves to help prevent flooding in their basements.

Malsh said he will tell those people that he is a “huge advocate” of sump pumps, which, he said “will still keep you dry.”

“I’ve been doing this for 10 years, and there’s only been about five or six homes where I had to say I can’t help you,” Malsh said. “I won’t do a system that I’m not 100 percent convinced it will work.”

Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424; goffredo@heraldnet.com.

Rainy Day Basement Systems: 26819 39th Ave. NE, Arlington; 800-761-2791 or 360-435-6992; www.rainydaybasementsystems.com