Williamsville village has older housing close to Ellicott Creek, and the mix of building age and proximity to water produces both kinds of loss.
The older homes in the village have basements of an era that predates modern waterproofing, and the creek adds high water at the thaw.
What we deal with in Williamsville homes
Foundation seepage in the older village stock, and creek-related high water for the properties closest to it. Those are different problems with different responses.
The village housing also brings the ice dam pattern, because older roof assemblies rarely have the insulation and ventilation to stay uniformly cold.
What is the difference between seepage and a flood?
Seepage is groundwater working through a foundation over hours. A flood is surface water arriving across the ground. They look identical in a basement and they are handled and covered completely differently.
My basement smells damp but has never flooded.
That is humidity rather than an event, and it still supports growth on anything organic down there. It is a dehumidification and drainage question rather than a restoration one.