Waterproofing Solutions for “Home Alone”
With Christmas fast approaching, I wanted to spend a quiet night in with my son to watch the 1990 classic Home Alone, before crowds of family and friends make their annual pilgrimage. A work a lot since I’m usually on-class because I own a waterproofing company in Toronto, Canada, so the one-on-one time I have with my little guy is really special.
For the few who have yet to see Home Alone, it’s about a young boy, Kevin McCallister, who is accidentally left behind by his large family as they fly to Paris for Christmas vacation. Kevin would be fine in the luxurious suburban Chicago home, if not for a pair of thieves that have been burglarizing homes in Kevin’s neighborhood. After taking what they please from each house, they turn on the sink faucets and leave the water running; that is their calling card. Kevin’s house is next on their list but clever as he is, the boy manages to rig his house with traps which eventually leads to the burglars’ arrest.
It’s been years since I watched the movie and never realized how much it related to my trade. For starters, two pivotal scenes take place in the basement, an area I’m quite familiar with as I spend a lot of time in them during the week. In the movie, Kevin is terrified of the “evil furnace” in the basement. My son is scared of our basement too, just as I would have been at his age.
In the film’s climax, Kevin lures the burglars back to the Murphys’ house which they had robbed earlier that day; this is when Kevin finds himself in the neighbor’s flooded basement. My son then turned to me and asks how I would go about fixing a basement in this bad of shape.
I told him my job was just to prevent it, not repair it. However, I explained how a basement can flood either from the outside through cracks in the home’s foundation or from inside the house from leaving the faucet it on. He was actually shocked how fast water could fill up the basement. I also told my son how pipes can break and an early sign is staining on the walls or floor. Just as noticeable is the lingering smell of dampness. Dampness leads to mold, which is a particularly worrisome since it can trigger respiratory problems.
I felt particularly annoyed with the burglars’ signature. One of the burglars, Marv, is shown in the Murphys’ kitchen clogging the sink’s drain and turning on the faucet, but Harry, his partner, isn’t happy with Marv’s calling card, thinking it’s too mean. In response, Marv exclaims: “All the great ones leave their mark. We’re the Wet Bandits.” A wet basement has long-term effects on the home because it threatens the foundation’s structural integrity. It also decreases the equity you have on your home.
Watching Home Alone as an adult (and as a contractor), I find the movie funnier because of the scale of damage these burglars caused. But best of all, I think my little guy enjoyed it even more, plus he got a chance to understand my trade. Now it has me thinking, maybe one day he will take over the family business…
