Utica is the Oneida County seat, with roughly 65,000 residents at the 2020 census. It was established on the site of Old Fort Schuyler on the Mohawk River, and the Erie and Chenango canals helped make it a major textile center. Neighborhoods like East Utica, West Utica, Corn Hill and the area around Bagg's Square filled in during those years, and many of their houses still have the foundations they were built with.
What's different about city basements?
A lot of them are fieldstone, brick or early block, with low ceilings and floors that were poured long after the walls went up, if they were poured at all. Houses stand close together with narrow side passages, porches out front and little room for an excavator. Down near the river the land is flat and the water table can sit high in spring; farther south, streets rise toward the plateau and the uphill wall of a house takes the runoff.
What jobs come up most in Utica?
- Interior drain tile where digging outside isn't practical
- Repointing old stone and brick walls with compatible mortar
- Replacing worn sump pumps and adding battery backups
- Downspout extensions and regrading on small city lots
Do I need a city permit?
The City of Utica Department of Codes requires a building permit for construction costing $1,000 or more, and for any renovation in the Scenic and Historic District regardless of cost. Permit applications ask for proof of workers' compensation coverage or an exemption. Ask your contractor whether the job needs one and who will file it.
Common questions
Does basement waterproofing need a permit in Utica?
If the work costs $1,000 or more, the City of Utica requires a building permit, and any work in the Scenic and Historic District needs one regardless of cost. Ask the company or call the city's codes office before work starts.
Can an old fieldstone basement in Utica be made dry?
Often it can be made much drier with drain tile, repointing, a wall membrane and dehumidification. How dry depends on the walls, the lot and how high the water table rises in spring.
Services in Utica
- Interior drain tileA perforated drain under the basement floor along the walls that catches seepage and carries it to a sump pit.
- Sump pumps and backupsNew pumps, replacements, battery backups, alarms and discharge lines that carry water well away from the foundation.
- Foundation crack and wall repairSealing leaking cracks in poured walls and repointing mortar in block, brick and fieldstone foundations.
- Exterior waterproofingDigging to the footing, sealing the outside of the wall and adding a footing drain so water never reaches the basement.
- Dehumidifiers and moisture controlProperly sized, self-draining dehumidifiers and moisture fixes for basements that stay damp or musty.
Nearby areas
Snowmelt on the floor, a weeping wall, or a sump that never rests?
Call and an Oneida County waterproofing company will come find where the water gets in.