{"id":2142,"date":"2021-04-06T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-06T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/?p=2142"},"modified":"2021-04-06T14:18:30","modified_gmt":"2021-04-06T18:18:30","slug":"soggy-basement-water-infiltration-foundation-issues-who-do-you-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/2021\/04\/06\/soggy-basement-water-infiltration-foundation-issues-who-do-you-call\/","title":{"rendered":"Soggy basement? Water infiltration? Foundation issues? Who do you call?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Loretta di Vita<\/em><\/p>

Rarely is the basement a home\u2019s most wondrous room, but for Pietro Di Benedetto, founder and president of SOUS-SOLS EXPERTS<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u2014a trusted water management business serving Greater Montreal\u2014it\u2019s the mainstay of any property.<\/p>

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SOUS-SOLS EXPERTS<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>

A follower of inspirational speakers, Di Benedetto is himself a polished public speaker who waxes enthusiastic over French drains, pumps, foundation membrane (he uses only the top-grade type), cement, concrete and masonry. As he describes the interplay between these elements, making sure to put it in layperson terms, it becomes apparent that\u2014 quite simply stated\u2014he really knows his stuff.<\/p>

He points out that there are two categories to his busi- ness: the first being water management\u2014responding to, say, a foundation or water drainage problem, either inside or outside. The second is primarily related to concrete work. <\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s a logical combination,\u201d Di Benedetto explains. \u201cWater management and concrete are intertwined. For instance, replacing a drain may involve demolishing concrete slabs, which then have to be rebuilt.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>

Some fifteen years ago, Di Benedetto\u2014formerly a stock- broker, a marketing manager for a major Canadian choco- late producer, and Commercial Officer at the Italian Cham- ber of Commerce of Toronto\u2014had an existential reckoning causing him to hang up his corporate duds and take a job with a major US construction company specializing in wa- ter management. \u201cOn the job, I\u2019d often remember my late father, a master mason and the hardest working man I\u2019ve ever known, talking to me about slopes and protecting the bricks from water, and I\u2019d think, \u2018Ah, he was right; it\u2019s all about the water!\u2019\u201d In a classic example of snatch-the-pebble-from-the-master\u2019s-hand progression, Di Benedetto became so proficient at diagnosing and resolving water infiltration issues that he considered running his own business. \u201cI thought: I\u2019ll do this\u2014only better than them.\u201d<\/p>

And that\u2019s what he has been doing for the last ten years. An effective entrepreneur, by a mix of natural predisposition and accumulated experience, the 59-year-old self-described \u201cowner\/operator\u201d attributes his zeal to lineage. He credits his parents (who immigrated to Canada in 1957 from the tiny Italian town of Salle, in Abruzzo) with setting a lasting ex- ample of the work ethic and values by which he navigates his business today. Di Benedetto\u2019s transition from a white-collar career to the world of reno- vation was an unexpected leap which startled him\u2014and also his mother. <\/p>

\u201cWhen I graduated from university, if someone would\u2019ve told me that at 50 I\u2019d start a construction business, I wouldn\u2019t have believed it,\u201d says Di Benedetto, who holds an economics degree from Concordia University.<\/p><\/blockquote>

\u201cMy father had already passed by the time I started the business. My mother couldn\u2019t believe that after all my university schooling, I\u2019d choose to work in construction as he did,\u201d he says. But when Di Benedetto\u2019s business flourished, she was delighted that her son was following in his father\u2019s footsteps. \u201cThe most touching compliment my mother ever paid me was when I once visited her after a very long day, still in my work clothes, and she remarked that I was my father reborn!\u201d he recalls.<\/p>

Passionate about reinvention and creating opportunity, Di Benedetto could be the poster person for entrepreneurship as he carries his business forward with the unflinching conviction of a customer- focused crusader.<\/p>

\u201cI started this business in protest for all of the homeowners who were let down by the contractors from hell who created more prob- lems than they fixed,\u201d he says. \u201cHow can you treat customers like that\u2014leaving them to their own devices?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>

On the same empathetic plane, Di Benedetto keeps things real by creating a trust-based relationship with his customers from the get-go.<\/p>

\u201cI put myself in my customers\u2019 shoes. Many homeowners can only take DIY to a certain point before realizing they need an expert
to prevent or resolve issues. The problem is they don\u2019t know who
to call\u2014who to trust. I want to help people protect their biggest investment\u2014their homes.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI don\u2019t bamboozle customers with misleading, tricky fine print,\u201d he continues. \u201cRegardless of what they think needs to be done, my analysis is always based on sound technical information. I will tell them if they don\u2019t need something, and I will tell them what they do need.\u201d<\/p>

Methodical and precise, Di Benedetto relies on a time-tested process. \u201cI start with an analysis, meeting with the customer for two to three hours, assessing the property from all sides, before presenting a proposal. I show before-and-after pictures and samples of material.
I explain to customers how their homes are built, how the founda- tion differs from the footing, how we manage or redirect the water around and\/or in the home in order to protect it from water damage. I\u2019ll explain the \u2018why\u2019 behind the solution. This way the solution makes sense to them and they maintain a feeling of control.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m not an armchair quarterback,\u201d he says about his dynamic on-site involvement. \u201cWe\u2019re dealing with very complicated issues that need to be resolved one specific way. There is no grey zone when it comes to rectifying a foundation or water issue; it requires expertise, experience, targeted problem-solving, top-notch material and state-of-the-art tools and machinery.\u201d<\/p>

And that\u2019s exactly what he provides. \u201cThe best guarantee I can give my customers is one they won\u2019t ever have to use! In ten years, I haven\u2019t had a single comeback,\u201d Di Benedetto says, offering the ultimate proof of his integrity and competence. And with a success rate like that, there\u2019s no question about who you should call.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Loretta di Vita Rarely is the basement a home\u2019s most wondrous room, but for Pietro Di Benedetto, founder and president of SOUS-SOLS EXPERTS\u2014a trusted water management business serving Greater…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2147,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[325,326],"class_list":{"0":"post-2142","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-pietro-di-benedetto","9":"tag-sous-sols-experts"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/VDA1293-2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2142"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2251,"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2142\/revisions\/2251"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}