Basement Waterproofing and Crawl Space Repair in NE

Bring Your Own Wings: Lunch with Thrasher and Foundation Supportworks employees

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:17:10 -0400

Monday, August 30th Thrasher and Foundation Supportworks employees joined together for a "Bring Your Own Wings" lunch. With school starting again and the beginning of the fall season we thought it was a great opportunity to have a team lunch! Everyone brought their favorite wings, appetizer or dessert to share. It was also a good opportunity to recap Convention highlights. Nick Rohe, Thrasher Sales and Service Manager, took the opportunity to share Thrasher's accolades from Convention and Greg Thrasher, President thanked the Foundation Supporworks team for their hard work and participation in Convention.

Thrasher participates in Outing to support Special Olympics

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 03:52:05 -0400

On Monday, August 16th Thrasher Basement Systems participated as a sponsor of the Institute of Real Estate Management's (IREM) golf outing to raise money for Special Olympics. Thrasher was able to sponsor a team, as well as participate as a hole sponsor in the outing. Once again this year, the event was a great success raising money for a good cause. It also gave the participants a great opportunity to network with property managers and contractors from around the Omaha area.

Thrasher Team Hits the Field

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:28:37 -0400

The Thrasher softball team is back and ready to take on the diamond again! Friday nights will provide a much needed break for the guys at Thrasher. By day they inspect wet basements, bowing basement walls, settling foundations and damp crawlspaces. By night they take to the field and participate in a softball league with other Omaha based companies. Several managers, system design specialists, foreman and service techs are on the team. The first two games were back to back on Friday, August 27th. While they didn't bring home a win (yet), they had a great time and even had a cheering section. Go TEAM!

Thrasher Customer Service Representative Welcomes Baby Boy

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:56:08 -0400

Sara Welch, Customer Service Representative for Thrasher, and her husband Tim welcomed a baby boy, Evan James Welch at 8:34am on Tuesday, July 27th. Evan weighed 8lb and 13 oz and was 21 3/4" long. Congratulations and best wishes to the Welch family! Sara has been missed in the Service Department while on maternity leave and we look forward to having her back in a couple weeks.

Thrasher Basement Systems brings home awards from Annual Convention

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 10:52:43 -0400

Thrasher Basement Systems employees recently attended the Basement Systems and Foundation Supportworks Annual Convention in Hartford, Connecticut. The convention is always a great opportunity to connect with fellow dealers throughout the network to share ideas. In addition, it was a great opportunity to learn the latest about basement waterproofing, foundation repair, and crawlspace encapsulation. The convention featured updates and presentations from leaders in both the Basement Systems' and Foundation Supportworks' networks.

It was an honor to once again accept several awards on behalf of the hard-working employees at Thrasher Basement Systems. For the 2^nd year in a row, Thrasher was the #1 dealer in North America for foundation repair and helical anchors systems out of over 70 companies!! Thrasher was also recognized as the 6th largest waterproofing contractor out of over 130 in the international network of basement waterproofing professionals.

Moving Day at Foundation Supportworks

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 11:48:10 -0400

In March, Thrasher Basement Systems and Foundation Supportworks (FSI) began construction on a 7,100 square foot addition to their existing office building. With many months of excitement and anticipation, we are proud to announce that the project is complete!

Without hesitation, FSI employees began moving into their new offices this week.

"It's great to finally have a place of our own where we can continue to focus on growth without concern about where to place a new employee." - Dave Thrasher, FSI Director of Business Development

Thrasher employees are also excited about the completed addition, knowing that space in the existing building is now available.

Check back in the coming weeks for pictures of the completed facility.

Giving Production a Break

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 12:18:40 -0400

The heavy rains in the Midwest have made it a busy summer for Thrasher Basement Systems. Our crews have been working long hours to provide great service to our customers. The Thrasher management team felt like it was time to give the crews a break. On Friday afternoon, August 6th the team went to work to allow the crews some time to relax. As the crews arrived home for the week, they were greeted by the managers and directed into the shop where they could sit, relax, and enjoy burgers with all the fixins'. While the crews were relaxing, the managers went to work to wash and clean out all of the production vehicles. We couldn't do what we do without the hardworking Production team and we thank them for all of their hard work! You guys are the best!

Money Pit or Hidden Gem?

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 03:07:55 -0400

When preparing to buy or sell a home it is important to distinguish between the big and little problems that exist. A common misconception in many markets is that waterproofing a basement is considered a "money pit." Barbara Corcoran, real estate expert on "The Today Show," was recently asked about wet basements and its impact on the sale of a home. She responded, "Oh, this one is a money pit big time. It takes a heck of a lot of money to repair. Big money, $20,000. You've got to excavate around the entire house to fix a leaky basement. Not a good job." (Watch the video by clicking on the image below.)

It is true that wet basements can be a big problem. Due to the fact that most buyers view a home with a wet basement as a "fixer-upper", they will offer 10-20% less, if they consider buying at all. The reality is that most basement water problems can be solved for much less than $20,000. Many of them can be fixed for much less than $5,000. Because the investment to fix a wet basement is usually less than the discount a buyer may ask for, it may be the best choice to fix the problem before putting it on the market.

A common reason people don't want to get their problem fixed is that they are concerned that everything will have to removed and replaced from the outside, including porches, driveways, sidewalks, landscaping, and more. With an exterior excavation this may in fact be the case. However in most cases exterior excavation is not necessary. Most water problems can be addressed from inside the home, even if it is finished. This is much less disruptive and can be done quickly and without a huge investment.

Basement waterproofing has been around since the 1930's, but like almost every other home improvement sector, techniques have modernized and improved. Many companies began waterproofing homes by using exterior and/or old fashioned and more generic system. At Thrasher Basement Systems we utilize a modern and specifically designed interior drainage system. It is proven that by installing a drainage system around the inside of the basement along the wall, you can capture water at the most common point of entry - the floor / wall joint. Other advantages to this type of system include:

Accessibility to do the job.
More affordable than an outside system.
Installs in 1 day most of the time.
Easily serviceable year round.
It works and comes with a long term warranty that is transferable to new owners.

Thrasher installs an interior drainage system called "WaterGuard." WaterGuard is a specially-designed piping system engineered specifically to be a very efficient, long-lasting interior basement waterproofing system. The requirements of a good interior drainage system include:

Designed not to clog - sits on top of the footing.
Has a built in 3/8-inch gap between the floor and the wall to drain wall leaks.
Does not rely on filter fabric. (All filters eventually have to be changed)
Has a big drain outlet to the sump.
Will not cause structural damage to the foundation.

If you are unsure of the severity of your basement water problem it is best to have an expert look and give an estimate of the cost of repair. In most cases you will be pleasantly surprised. If you are looking to buy a home with a wet basement, it is a good idea to have it checked out before you by, so that you will be prepared to invest in making your new basement useful living space.

Service Technician Participates in Accent Reduction Training

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 05:08:48 -0400

Barry Cavanagh, Service Technician for Thrasher Basement Systems, was recently featured in a news story for his participation at Accent Reduction Training located in Omaha, Nebraska. Barry joined Thrasher Basement Systems 2 years ago. He hit the ground running and was enjoying his work. Thrasher received some feedback from customers that they loved working with Barry, but sometimes he was a little difficult to understand because of his South African accent. Since Barry had been so successful, Thrasher wanted to assist Barry in being the best and most successful employee possible. Therefore, Thrasher asked Barry if he would consider participating in Accent Reduction Training, and Barry agreed.

Accent Reduction Training offers accent modification training to improve business, professional and social speaking skills. The program began with a personal analysis of Barry's speech. The analysis revealed exactly how Barry's pronunciation varied from standard American English and identified specific areas for concentration. To modify a foreign accent takes hard work and dedication. To achieve the greatest improvement, Barry devoted himself to practicing outside the classroom and experienced great results from the training.

Accent reduction had both personal and corporate benefits. Both Barry and Thrasher Basement Systems discovered that accent reduction assisted Barry in further developing his business opportunities, increasing his confidence on the job, supporting his career advancement, and reducing miscommunication between Barry and his customers.

Click the image below to hear Barry's story:

Training Video to Release at Annual Convention

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 04:22:25 -0400

August 18th through August 21st marks this year's annual TEAM Basement Systems and Foundation Supportworks' convention. Each year Basement Systems' and Foundation Supportworks' dealers look forward to annual convention as a time of excitement, alignment and promise to carry us through the next year. The week is packed with events to better engage employees with training that includes product knowledge, processes, sales, marketing and more for success in the coming year.

In preparation for annual convention, Dan Thrasher, Director of Operations for Thrasher and Amanda Harrington, Director of Training and Development for Foundation Supportworks are filming training video to release at convention. Kathy Rathbun, Multimedia Specialist for Thrasher has been instrumental in organizing the video shoot, shooting the video, as well as editing and finalizing production of the video. Special thanks to the video team, as well as Jenn Burch, Administrative Assistant for Foundation Supportworks, for stepping in and assisting with the video shoot.

We are looking forward to the launch of this training video and the assistance it will provide new dealers and employees!