Site Work and Land Services in Temple, PA

Temple, PA Success Story

Residential Masonry, Painting and Protective Coatings

A homeowner in Temple — a community in Muhlenberg Township, Berks County, one of the Reading suburbs north of the city along Route 222 — engaged J&J Services for a multi-scope exterior improvement project: masonry repair of a deteriorated rear patio, full exterior repainting, and protective coating of the basement floor and walls to address long-standing moisture management concerns in the below-grade space.

Challenges
Temple’s residential properties north of Reading sit in a zone where the Schuylkill Valley’s typical spring moisture conditions combine with the Reading area’s aging housing stock to produce a recurring set of maintenance challenges. The rear patio had heaved in several places and had mortar joint deterioration throughout — a combination of frost action and root intrusion from a nearby maple. The exterior paint was in poor condition with failing areas at the soffits and trim. Most significantly, the basement had recurring moisture infiltration through the block wall that had been addressed with interior paint products on three prior occasions — all of which had failed because they don’t address the hydrostatic pressure driving the moisture through the wall.

Solution
J&J Services repaired the patio by addressing the heave points and repointing all deteriorated joints in a mortar compatible with the original masonry. Exterior painting proceeded after thorough surface preparation. The basement moisture issue was addressed with a system designed to work with hydrostatic pressure rather than against it: a crystalline waterproofing compound was applied to the block walls that penetrates into the masonry matrix and reacts with moisture to form insoluble crystals — blocking water movement at the molecular level rather than relying on a surface film that pressure will eventually defeat. A protective floor coating over prepared concrete completed the basement system.

Results
The basement wall treatment produced visible results within the first rain season — the interior wall surfaces that had been chronically damp remained dry through multiple heavy precipitation events. The homeowner noted this was the first time a basement treatment had actually worked on this property.

“We’d painted the basement walls three times and the moisture came back every time. J&J told us why — we were fighting the pressure wrong. They used the crystalline treatment that works with the water, not against it. The walls have been dry through two rainy seasons. Should have done it right the first time.”
— Homeowner, Temple, PA