Metuchen basement waterproofing for older houses

For Middlesex Waterproofing, Metuchen means old foundations on mixed ground.

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Census estimates count 5,627 homes in the borough. Close to three in four were built before 1980, and 15.1% before 1940. Foundations that old were never meant to keep a finished room dry.

Local record

Pre-1980 homes: 72.3% of 5,627 (ACS 2024)¹
Pre-1940 homes: 15.1% (ACS 2024)¹
Ida, Sept 1 to 2, 2021: Homeowners pumping water and sewage out of basements (Patch)²
Historic district: 197 contributing buildings, on the National Register since 2017 (Wikipedia)³
Wettest soils, center: Lansdowne and Nixon units, very limited for basements (NRCS)⁴

What Ida left in Metuchen basements

"From Sept. 1 to 2, Metuchen suffered severe flooding," Patch reported two weeks after the storm, and borough officials said many homeowners were pumping water and sewage out of their basements. FEMA staff came to Borough Hall afterward.

Two kinds of water were in those basements. Ground water rising through the floor is what a sump handles, and a pump with a battery backup keeps working after the power drops, which it often does in a storm like that. Sewage coming up a floor drain is a plumbing problem, and we will say so instead of selling a pump for it. Details are on our sump pump page.

Submersible pump in a basin with PVC discharge, check valve and a battery box — A sump pump with battery backup. AI-generated illustration

Craftsman, Tudor and Colonial Revival foundations

The Middlesex Avenue-Woodwild Park Historic District covers 88.9 acres and 197 contributing buildings. It went on the National Register in 2017, and its houses run from Italianate and Queen Anne to Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival and Bungalow/Craftsman.

Older houses get added onto, and a later porch, sunroom or back addition sometimes sits over a shallow crawl space instead of a full cellar. Bare earth down there keeps the floor above damp. Encapsulating the crawl space covers the ground and walls with a sealed liner so the moisture stays below.

Lansdowne and Nixon soils on the wet side

About a third of what NRCS maps around the borough center is Boonton soil with urban land, not limited for basements. Close to a quarter is a moderately well drained sandy loam rated somewhat limited. The wet side is smaller but real: Lansdowne at 12.6% and a Nixon variant at 9.0%, both very limited, both because ground water rises into the 75 to 180 centimeter band where basement floors sit.

The Dismal Swamp, called the Everglades of Central New Jersey, lies nearby, a reminder of how much of this ground started out wet.

Main Street permits

Metuchen's Building Department works out of 500 Main Street and issues construction permits for building, electrical, plumbing and fire work. When a job of ours needs one, we file for it there.

Sources