Company pitches new technology for drying walls

MARENGO — A company that dries out courthouse basements visited Marengo Friday with an offer to help Iowa County protect its century-old building from water damage.

RenoDry Chief Executive Officer Don Brown contacted Iowa County Supervisors several months ago and visited the courthouse Friday to access the county’s need for the technology he was selling.

The technology was invented by a Hungarian, said Brown, and Brown is licensed to sell it in the United States. He started the U.S. division about 10 years ago in Minnesota.

“We’ve got 12% of the courthouses right now,” Brown said.

The company moved to Kansas City to be closer to the middle of the U.S. as it markets its product nationwide.

More than 100 buildings now use the technology, according to Brown. It’s in 15% of courthouses in Iowa including those in Osceola and Washington, he said.

Water naturally rises from the ground into masonry, said Brown. “And it brings salt with it.” Salt is extremely corrosive to masonry, especially to sandstone, like that at the Iowa County Courthouse.

“And it’s really expensive to fix a foundation,” said Brown.

RenoDry uses no electricity, said Brown. It uses antennas to collect energy and filters out frequencies that allow water to rise in the walls.

“It’s very, very green,” said Brown.

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Brown took readings and photos in the basement of the courthouse Friday and will write a report to tell the county “if you have a wet basement.”

“We do,” said Supervisor Kevin Heitshusen. Peeling paint is amble evidence. Supervisors know they need to do something to make the courthouse basement dry.

“We can tell you how wet,” said Gail Haglund, RenoDry office manager.

Moisture moves up the wall through capillary action. The bond between the water molecules and the masonry molecules allows the water to climb. It will continue to seep up through the building, and it does a lot of damage, Brown said.

RenoDry uses on electro-osmotic pulse technology, which uses frequencies to reverse the natural capillary action that causes water to rise into the walls from the ground. This eco-friendly system shifts moisture downward instead of letting it creep upward into your basement’s walls and structures, according to RenoDry.

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The system uses passive antennas to disrupt the electrostatic attraction between water and masonry. This allows gravity to pull the water back down into the ground, effectively reversing the capillary action and drying out the walls.

The system is powered by RF energy from the environment and doesn't require electricity or batteries, the company says.

“It’s been used in Europe now for 35 years,” said Brown.

“We love these old buildings,” said Brown. New courthouses are just boxes. “This has got a lot of character to it,” Brown said.

Brown used a hydrometer to read the moisture in the basement wall at the courthouse. A reading below 70 means the wall is dry, he said. A reading around 100 shows the presence of water.

Readings in the 140s and 150s show “you’ve got a heck of a lot of water,” Bown said.

Humans are mostly water and register between 160 and 175 on the hydrometer.

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The courthouse wall about waist high, above the wood wainscoting, measured around 150. That’s almost 60% moisture, said Brown. And it’s already halfway up the wall.

Above Brown’s head, the reading was around 49, which is considered dry.

An exposed section of brick near a door in the basement measured “way over 100.” The salt in the water is eating away at the brick.

“We will get rid of the water,” said Brown. “Get rid of the salt,” though RenoDry can’t fix the damage to the brick.

The drying process will continue as long as the RenoDry device stays in the building, said Brown. As the water leaves the masonry, salt is left behind, and the county will have to clean that off, he said.

The cost for Iowa County Courthouse — with an area of 6,000 square feet, according to Maintenance Director Dylan Healey — would be about $25,000 to $30,000, said Brown.

The county would pay only once for the product, Brown said. There is no ongoing cost. Inspections after one and three years are included in the initial cost.

“We guarantee that the building will be dried out in three years,” said Brown. The system has been working in a year and a half, but it’s guaranteed to dry out a building in three years.

The device can conceivably keep a building dry for 80-100 years, Brown said.

County supervisors made no decision Friday about buying the product.