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Basement Systems Takes Home Multiple Awards and Honors

Francine — Mon, 23 May 2011 17:55:52 +0000

Larry with Sen. Richard Blumenthal and 2011 CT Business Hall of Fame Inductees

Basement Systems, Inc. ® has had a busy spring season full of awards and honors. Company founder and president Lawrence Janesky now has another distinction to add to his credentials. Janesky has recently been selected as a finalist for Executive of the Year in the 2011 American Business Awards®.

The American Business Awards^SM, also known as the Stevie® Awards, honor and generate public recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of organizations and businesspeople worldwide. Janesky is one of five finalists for Executive of the Year for companies between 100 and 2,500 employees.

This year’s Stevie® Award winners will be announced during the annual gala on Monday, June 20, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. More than six hundred executives from across the U.S.A. are expected to attend. The event will benefit Camfed (camfed.org), which fights poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa by educating girls and empowering women to become leaders of change. The ceremonies will be broadcast on radio nationwide by the Business TalkRadio Network.

Basement Systems has also recently been honored by the Valley United Way with a number of awards for the company’s outstanding service and support to the Greater Valley community. At the United Way’s awards dinner last month, Basement Systems received the Campaign Underwriter award for Outstanding Community Support, the Top Dollars Raised 2010-2011 award, the Gold Corporate Giving award, the Silver Employee Giving award, and the Silver Employee Participation award. Janesky also received the CEO Leadership award for Philanthropic Leadership and Support.

Janesky’s book, The Highest Calling, has been recognized by the Indie Excellence Book Awards as the best business/motivational book. One of his other books, Saving Energy and Money at Home, has been chosen as the runner up in the Green Book Festival.

“All of these awards show just how committed Basement Systems is to being the best,” Janesky said. “It makes me proud to see organizations honoring the hard work and dedication of my team.”

These recent honors follow the heels of Basement Systems being selected for induction into the Connecticut Business Hall of Fame, an organization honoring companies that have demonstrated an exceptional role as a business entity in the state. That induction ceremony took place on May 20 at the Connecticut Laborers’ Offices in Hartford. Senator Richard Blumenthal and Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman were speakers.

Basement Systems is an international network of basement waterproofing, crawl space repair and basement finishing contractors. The international headquarters, based in Seymour, Connecticut, also provides sales and service throughout Connecticut and Westchester County, NY. Larry Janesky’s Basement Systems has been helping homeowners increase their usable living space for over 20 years across the United States, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

They have 27 patented basement and crawl space products, designed to help homeowners get more out of their basements and increase their home’s value.

Basement Systems to be Inducted into CT Business Hall of Fame

Francine — Wed, 04 May 2011 14:23:15 +0000

Basement Systems, Inc., will be joining the ranks of prestigious businesses and business leaders throughout the state as inductees in the Connecticut Business Hall of Fame.

The international basement waterproofing company, based in Seymour, was selected to be a part of the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2010.

This year’s induction ceremony will take place on May 20 at the Connecticut Laborers’ Offices in Hartford from 8 to 10 a.m.

Each year, the Connecticut Business Hall of Fame recognizes business leaders throughout the state that have demonstrated a long record of successful management, expertise and business skills along with notable achievements.

Several Connecticut-based companies are also inducted that have demonstrated an exceptional role as a business entity in the state. The qualifications for companies to be inducted into the Business Hall of Fame include operations for 10 or more years, community involvement, and being a proven industry leader.

“This is a humbling award that our great company is honored to receive, and I can tell you we have only just begun,” said Larry Janesky, founder and owner of Basement Systems. “We truly have something special going on here at Team Basement Systems.”

Larry Janesky’s Basement Systems has been helping homeowners increase their usable living space for over 20 years across the United States, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. They have 27 patented basement and crawl space products, designed to help homeowners get more out of their basements and increase their home’s value.

Basement Systems Hosts Employee Appreciation with Luncheon

cynthia — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:26:03 +0000

Seymour, CT – CleanSpace division employees honored by their peers

On Friday, September 3, 2010 Basement Systems’ CleanSpace division employees showed their appreciation for their peers with an appreciation luncheon.

Employees from the warehouse, shipping, and receiving departments received a barbeque lunch complete with grilled meats, salads, and desserts. The spread was organized, prepared, and paid for by their peers to show their appreciation for the hard work and team effort put forth by all.

The lunch was held at company headquarters in Seymour, CT and is held each year to honor the CleanSpace division’s employees.

This lunch is an annual event organized by Vice President of Dealer Development, Mike Delmolino, who came to Basement Systems from the trucking industry.

This is our “blacktop café,” namely so because the cookout happens out on the driveway by the shipping docks.

Delmolino realizes that “you do need a top notch sales, service, and web department in your company, but without a top notch group of packaging, shipping, and expediting team members, your customers’ orders can fall behind. Here product moves out fast, all the time!”

Feedback from fellow employees was both positive and appreciative.

Terrone L. mentioned “It was great that they showed their appreciation, and we loved it!” Fred D. said it was “A Great way for CleanSpace to recognize the shipping department for doing a great job. Thank You!” An anonymous employee said, “It was a great gesture, and was appreciated very much. Thank You!”

CleanSpace is a division of Basement Systems, Inc., which is an international network of basement waterproofing and crawl space repair contractors. The headquarters, based in Seymour, Connecticut, provides sales and customer service throughout Connecticut and Westchester County, NY.

Larry Janesky’s Basement Systems, Inc. has been helping homeowners increase their usable living space for over 20 years across the United States, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. They have over 27 patented basement and crawl space products designed to help homeowners get more out of their below grade spaces and increase their home’s value.

If your home is in need of basement waterproofing, crawl space, or foundation repair contact Connecticut Basement Systems today.

We repair foundations, crawl spaces, and perform wet basement waterproofing in Fairfield, Torrington, Norwalk, Guilford, West Hartford, and all of CT and Westchester county, NY.

Can You Afford a Wet Basement?

cynthia — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:20:40 +0000

A Wet Basement can be a huge financial burden

Your Wet Basement May Be Costing You More Money Than You Would Pay to Have it Fixed

Your basement is unsightly, unpleasant, and uncomfortable. It is dark, dingy and smells horribly. However, since you only use it to store some items or as a laundry room, you don’t really care much about how your
basement looks and feels like. You only go there when strictly necessary and rarely spend more than a few minutes in it.

Truth is that your cave-like basement is more than just an eye sore. It might be costing you a lot of money as well, and in more than one way.

Wet Basements Increase Heating and Cooling Costs

Humid air costs much more to both heat and cool and, if you think that it is only a problem if you want to cool or heat the basement, think twice.

Due to a physics phenomenon known as “stack effect” – which refers to the way the air moves in a building – 1/3 of the air you breathe on the upper floors of your home is coming straight from your basement. That means that the moisture in that basement air is consistently being carried upstairs, making your whole house more difficult to cool and heat.

How difficult? According to a U.S. Department of Energy’s Report, an insulated basement can save homeowners across the U.S. anywhere between $250 and $450 dollars a year in energy bills. Therefore, keeping your basement humid and not providing any kind of moisture or thermal protection is costing you at least that much.

Wet Basements Ruin your Indoor Air Quality

Moisture is not the only undesirable thing being carried from the basement into the above floors. Mold and dust mites thrive in wet basements, therefore mold spores and dust mite pellets, the two main triggers of most indoor allergies, are also finding their way into your home.

Your wet basement is not only costing you more money in utilities; it is ruining your indoor air quality. It might even be making someone in your family sick or uncomfortable. That alone can be burden on your budget in times of soaring healthcare costs.

Wet Basements Decrease Property Value and Make a Home Hard to Sell

No one likes a wet basement and home buyers know that if they buy a home with one such basement, the seller’s problem will become their own. The water stains, puddles, wall cracks or even mold smells can render a home very difficult, if not impossible to sell.

According to Builder Magazine 19% of home buyers won’t even consider a fixer-upper.

In addition, a wet basement is counted within the 12 Red Flags, Realty Times recommend home buyers to watch out for,and About.com counts wet basements among the top ten reasons buyers will hate your home.

Anyone willing to buy a home with a leaky basement will probably expect a substantial discount. A wet basement decreases property value by 10 to 25% and there is no way to cover it up. In most states, sellers are required to disclose basement water problems and can be held liable if they don’t, even after the property is sold.

Even if you are going to sell your home in the near future, having the basement waterproofed is the best course of action. Not only you can ask for full price on your property, but good waterproofing companies will offer a Transferable Lifetime Warranty that will cover the buyer. That alone is a great selling point for your home.

Wet Basement = Flood Prone Basement

When it comes to basements, today’s water stains are tomorrow’s flood. During heavy rains the faulty ground drainage that is now causing the water to seep through the wall and floors will cause your basement to flood. It is not a matter of if, but when and how much.

Experience shows that one can never be prepared enough for a basement flood. Even if you only use it for storage, laundry or to house utilities. Even if you have all your appliances and belongings raised from the floor to minimize damage, a basement flood is always a hassle, and a costly one most of the time. According to Floodsmart.gov, 2 inches of flood water can cost you around $7,800 USD.

There is the messy cleanup, the damaged property, the common hazards (electricity, fire, contamination), the potential for mold growth in the aftermath. If you don’t have flood insurance, none of the damage is covered. Homeowner’s insurance doesn’t cover flood damage.

In addition, according to FEMA and Floodsmart.gov, even if you do have flood insurance, not every flood qualifies for coverage under these policies. The flooded area must be of at least 2 acres or at least a couple of your neighbors must have been affected as well, for your claim to be considered.

Also, in these policies, the coverage is very limited when it comes to basements. Some finishing material and some of your property may not be covered at all.

Affordable Basement Flood Prevention Technologies

For much less than you might think, you can get all these problems solved for good. Modern internal basement drainage systems, and state-of-the-art sump pump systems – which include battery operated back up pump, alarm, and an automatic switch that will cause another pump to kick in when the main pump is having problems – will reduce the odds of a basement flood to statistical insignificance. Powerful and energy efficient basement dehumidifiers will reduce RH levels to prevent mold problems.

These can be installed in a couple of days, with minimal disruption, for a fraction of the cost of a conventional drainage system or external french drain.

Unlike external french drains which are buried by the footing and can only be fixed by digging out the foundation, good internal drainage systems remain serviceable throughout the years. They can be fitted with service ports that allow them to be examined and flushed as needed. Which is why they are usually backed by a Transferable Lifetime Warranty, by the companies that install them.

Having your basement protected is one of the the best investments you can make on your home. The energy savings alone will pay for the cost of the repairs, overtime.

As an extra incentive, if you decide to insulate or finish your basement after waterproofing it, you might qualify for one or more of the federal government loans or tax incentive programs, recently made available to homeowners seeking to improve their home’s energy efficiency.

So as you consider home maintenance and repairs priorities and try to budget accordingly, consider this: can you really afford to keep that basement wet?

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Avoiding Big Basement Disasters

jacques — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 19:40:04 +0000

Five Common Mistakes People Make with their Basements

After three years of living in basement-related forums & web sites on a daily basis, I’ve come to a few conclusions:

Basement-related web sites and forums have become an impossible maze of bad advice, fad markets, and outdated advice.
Homeowners are taking this advice & returning to the same forums when the advice fails
Repeat Steps 1 & 2

As part of a network that’s been reputable in the basement business since 1987 nationally, we’d like to send some good horse sense into the ether.

Here, unequivocally, are the five most common mistakes that lead to disasters in the basement:

1. Blowing Air Out Of or Into the Basement

Some people try to dry their basement by venting air out of the basement. Others try to vent it by sending air into the space. Either way, you’re wasting money and making the problem worse.

When air is blown or vented out of the basement (or crawl space), you’re literally throwing money out the window. The air you blow out will be replaced by air from upstairs in your home. You pay to condition that air!

And if you’re counting on air to be blown IN to the house, remember that it’s going to push condition air out of the house so it can end up in your home, where you’ll have to pay to condition it. And when it’s raining, snowing, foggy, damp, or humid outside, is sending that air into your cool, underground space really going to help? Thousands of mold, damp basements and crawl spaces say “NO!”
2. Venting the Dryer into the Basement
Well, you might as go downstairs with your wet laundry and wring it out on the floor. Because that’s what you’ll be doing if the dryer vents into the basement or crawl space.

As you send all that moist air down to your below-grade space, its humidity will condensate on everything. What can you look forward to? Mold, rot, mildew, and damage to all organic material in the space. Vent those dryers outside!

3. Improper Gutter Drainage
We have gutters so we can take water from the roof and send it away from the home. That’s right– AWAY from the home.

Check your gutters: are they dropping water off directly around your foundation? Is it pooling there, freezing in the winter, and creating puddles in warmer weather? Is it leaking into your basement, filling your window wells, or causing your soil to swell and heave & crack the foundation?

Why do we have gutters again?
4. Painting the Walls

Paint is for upstairs.

When you paint your basement walls, or try to seal them with a waterproof coating, you’re asking for trouble. Laytex-based paints contain organic material, and as such, they’re going to grow mold, mildew, and take damage from moisture.

And did you know that concrete is porous? Very much so, it turns out. That’s why people try to seal them with waterproof coatings. Unfortunately, it’s not just water that passes through those pores- you also get a white, flaky mineral powder known as efflorescence.

This efflorescence is going to build up behind seals that adhere to the walls. In time, you can count on this buildup to push the coatings off, causing them to blister, peel, and flake off your walls. Once they do, and it usually takes between three months and six years, your walls are now officially ruined.

This is what happens when you use conventional finishes in a basement.

5. Finishing with Drywall & Carpet
Think: Paper. Fiberglass resins. Wood. And, heaven forbid, carpet on concrete.

It’s not going to work. It just doesn’t work.

The Basement Systems network has seen, hundreds (maybe thousands) of ruined basements finished with drywall. When the basement doesn’t flood with groundwater, it’s a washing machine hose, water heater, flooded window well, burst pipe, or some other plumbing failure. One shot, and even mold-resistant drywall is ruined.

And remember that concrete is porous? That humidity is going to build up underneath the carpet and behind the drywall. First you’ll get the musty smells. Then the mold. Then it’s all over for your basement.

Find a basement finishing system that includes a written warranty- one that holds up even if the basement floods. Read the fine print. Read it again. Research them online, then go for it. You can finish your basement– but please, not with drywall.

Your Basement Contractors
If you live anywhere in the U.S., or in Canada, U.K. and Ireland, we’d like to help you with all your basement & foundation questions. If you’re looking for [services], we’re the contractors for you!

If you’d like your basement questions answered and would like a free cost quote & inspection, call us up or shoot us an e-mail today. If you’re not sure, check out our reputation with the BBB, and ask us for a few customer references. We’d be glad to oblige!

Clean USA launched new trade name and started basement waterproofing service

cynthia — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:45:26 +0000

Clean USA launched new trade name and started basement waterproofing service

Big changes are on the horizon here at Clean USA! We have been serving the lowcountry since 1996 and continually strive to offer the best in mold and moisture solutions for our customers.

We launched our new trade name..

Don’t worry, Clean USA isn’t going anywhere. We are just putting all of our services under a new umbrella… so customers will know whoto call when they have an issue with their basement, crawl space or foundation. We’re excited about our new name and want you to know you can count on us to keep your crawl space dry…for good! We are The Crawl Space Specialists!

We started servicing wet basement waterproofing around the area. Please do not hesitate to contact us for your FREE Greater Savannah basement waterproofing estimate!

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“We can’t all be Apple or Cirque du Soleil or Basement Systems Inc. But we can damn well die trying.” – Tom Peters

cynthia — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:23:50 +0000

Innovate or Die: The Innovation114
A Menu of [Essential] Innovation Tactics

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Tom Peters is right. This network really rocks.

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Badger Basement Systems Donates to Jefferson County WI Habitat for Humanity – Badger Basement Systems

cynthia — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:19:45 +0000

Badger Basement Systems Donates to Jefferson County WI Habitat for Humanity

Fort Atkinson, WI – Badger Basement Systems, Inc. has recently donated basement replacement windows, casement egress windows, egress window wells with covers, sump pump liners, and sump pump discharge hoses to a local charity.

The cause? The Jefferson County Habitat for Humanity ReStore. The ReStore is located at 1525 Summit Drive, Unit 2, Fort Atkinson, WI. (Next to St. Vincent DePaul)

Habitat ReStores are retail outlets where quality used and surplus building materials are sold at a fraction of normal prices. Proceeds from ReStores are used to help local affiliates fund the construction of Habitat homes within the community. Jefferson County Wisconsin Habitat for Humanity’s mission is to provide safe, decent, affordable, and energy efficient housing to hard-working, low income families in our community.

Badger Basement Systems, Inc. is your local responsible basement waterproofing, basement finishing and foundation repair contractor serving areas from Fort Atkinson, WI and greater Rockford, IL, to greater Madison and Eau Claire, WI for over 30 years! If you’d like a free estimate on any of their services, visit Badger Basement Systems today!

The Jefferson County Habitat for Humanity ReStore celebrated its grand opening on March 6, 2010 and the volunteers couldn’t be more excited! They are now open to accept donations and sales every Saturday from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. and Badger Basement Systems is proud to pitch in to help the Jefferson County Community!

Posted on: 2010/03/17 3:48:36pm by: Charlene Bieber

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Volunteer of the Year

Francine — Wed, 20 May 2009 12:37:45 +0000

Here at Basement Systems, we regularly join nonprofit organizations to work to make our community better. One of the groups we’ve worked withis TEAM, Inc., a local agency that works to fight poverty and help low-income families become more self-sufficient.

Last week, TEAM, Inc. named Basement Systems with the prestigious title of Volunteer of the Year. The organization said of Basement Systems, “Patient kind and giving, they are truly a great asset.”

Basement Systems Vice President Mark Daconto and Basement Systems employee John Kay accepted the award. Several other local citizens and organizations were also given awards at the Volunteer Reception held at John J. Sullivan’s in Ansonia, Connecticut.

Superstar Top 41 Entrepreneurs

Francine — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:25:01 +0000

Well-known business authority and author Tom Peters has named Basement Systems President Larry Janesky in his list of Superstar Top 41 Entrepreneurs. Larry joins popular public figures such as Steve Jobs, Oprah, Ronald Reagan and Bono on the list.

Peters wrote the following about Janesky:

“Larry Janesky, Basement Systems Inc., author of very popular Dry Basement Science, transformer of moldy basements, this ‘ordinary’ business a huge winner.”

Tom Peters has been referred to as “the father of the post-modern corporation,” having written 15 books on business management since the 1980s including “In Search for Excellence.” He has been praised by the Economist, the Los Angeles Times, Fortune and the New Yorker, and has been outspoken in topics such as healthcare, women in the workplace and the boomer market.