Perma-Seal News and Information

With a population of about 75,000, Arlington Heights is a village in Cook County, Illinois that is known for being the home of the Arlington Race Track, where the Arlington Million, a Breeder’s Cup qualifying event, is held.

A suburb of Chicago, Arlington Heights shares the same climate with the Windy City, which means winters are harsh and thunderstorms are common in spring and summer. Precipitation levels come in at nearly 39 inches a year, which makes basements particularly vulnerable to floods and dampness.

A village in DuPage County, Illinois, Downers Grove has been voted number 8 in Forbes’ list of America’s Friendliest Towns, and number 5 in CNN’s Best Places for a Healthy Retirement list.

However, there are some things that can threaten the pleasant nature of the town, one of which being hydrostatic pressure.

Highland Park, a suburban municipality in Lake County, Illinois with a population of about 30,000, is known for many attractions including several landmark structures designed by prominent architects. Houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, Howard Van Doren Shaw, and David Adler among others can be found in the municipality.

It doesn’t matter if your home was designed by a legendary architect, given the climate of the area, all homes have the same propensity to suffer from damp basements and wet crawl spaces.

A city in Illinois, Joliet is named after the French-Canadian explorer, Louis Jolliet. The fourth-most populated city in the state, it has a population of about 148,000 and is the state’s fastest growing city.

Joliet sees an annual precipitation level of about 37 inches, and this accounts for many of the city’s flooded and damp basements. Whether it is caused by the weather or damaged pipes, a wet basement is never good news. Water is highly erosive and it can wreak havoc not just on your basement’s floors and walls, but on your home’s foundation, as well.

Known for the herd of elk living in a grove in its own Busse Woods, the aptly named Elk Grove Village is a municipality in Illinois that lies adjacent to the city of Chicago. With a population of about 33,000, it is also home to the largest industrial park in the U.S. with over 3,600 businesses located within its boundaries.

While businesses and elk thrive, many homes undergo a natural occurrence that many might feel is a cause for worry – sinking foundations. While this is natural, you might be have to be concerned if the sinking happens very fast.