Company known for drying out basements of old buildings look at courthouse

The last two weeks, Michael Clancy, a representative of the company RENODRY USA, visited with the board of supervisors about using his company’s method of drying out the basements of old buildings on the Adair County Courthouse.

The supervisors left it during their Tuesday, Sept. 20, meeting that they would return to Clancy with an answer after they spoke with a couple of references from the area. RENODRY has done work at courthouses in both Taylor and Cass counties.

Clancy said during the Sept. 14 meeting that the RENODRY method particularly cares for rising moisture that comes up from the ground. He said the older the building is, the longer it has for moisture to climb the walls.

“It wouldn’t be such a big deal if just water came up, but it brings salt with it,” Clancy said. “Salt gets inside the capillary system of the stone or brick, then it recrystallizes, expands, then it begins to desenegrate and erode the foundation.”

By using his company’s technology to dehydrate a basement, Clancy explained that future damage can be avoided. Previous damage is irreversible. In simple terms, the technology used to dry a basement out is a dehumidifier for masonry. It has a series of antennas and a circuit board that are tuned to specific frequencies that help water and other moisture come out of a masonry wall.

“Most of our clients are historical courthouses,” Clancy said. “We work with a lot of colleges, universities, city halls and jails.”

Clancy used a hydrometer on the courthouse basement to get a reading and be able to generate a free quote for the supervisors, which they considered at last week’s meeting.