You are proving my point. Everyone knows best and thinks that they won't make the mistakes of the past when it comes to making bone dry basements that will work

You are proving my point. Everyone knows best and thinks that they won't make the mistakes of the past when it comes to making bone dry basements that will work in perpetuity. The people in the article did not set out to make their home even more damp and the original builders did not set out to make it damp. They thought they knew what they were doing. With British town houses that have basements the original ground dug out for the foundations went into the road which is built up by a storey. The basement faces out into the garden, the sides join with neighbouring houses in the terrace. The front has a gap to the road that has a containing wall. Coal and stuff could be delivered to the basement area with a hatch in the road in some areas. Despite this sophisticated no-digging approach to a basement and dry walls on all sides there is still a damp problem that has to be managed. You can't just hold back water in earth with concrete, plastic or anything else 'waterproof' as it will rot away or prove to get damp in time. Even with clay that prevents oxygen getting to steel, steel will rust away too. We wouldn't have these problems if we had stayed in the trees.