Ask for the quote in pieces
A one-line waterproofing quote, "seal basement, complete", tells you nothing you can compare. Before you weigh any price, ask every company to break its proposal into separate items with a quantity next to each. This guide quotes no price ranges. It walks through the items an Augusta proposal should show and what makes each one cost more or less, so you can tell whether two companies are pricing the same job.
A useful quote names, at minimum:
1. the diagnosis: where the water comes from and how the company knows; 2. exterior drainage work, if any; 3. interior drain length, in feet; 4. the sump basin and the pump model, plus any backup; 5. discharge piping and where it ends; 6. wall and crack treatments, counted individually; 7. humidity control equipment; 8. restoration: concrete patching, landscaping, hauling debris; 9. permits, if the job needs any, and who obtains them; 10. the warranty and its transfer terms.
Diagnosis and site visit
Some companies charge for an inspection and credit it toward the job; others fold it into the price. Either is fine as long as you get the findings in writing. A diagnosis with moisture readings, photos and a clear answer on seepage versus condensation is worth more than a free visit that ends in a sales pitch.
Exterior drainage lines
NOAA's engineering weather data for Augusta/Bush Field lists a 100-year rainfall rate of 4.0 inches per hour. Gutter and downspout work is usually the smallest item on a quote and does a lot of the work in a storm like that. Price depends on the length of gutter, the number of downspouts, whether outlets are upsized, and how far the extensions or buried lines run. Regrading is priced by how much soil has to be brought in and moved, and by what stands in the way, such as shrubs, walks or an AC pad.
Interior drain and sump
A perimeter drain is cut into the floor edge, laid with pipe and stone, and patched. The drivers are the number of walls covered, obstructions such as stairs, furnaces or finished walls, and the floor's thickness. The sump line changes with basin size, the pump's horsepower and housing, a check valve, a sealed lid and whether a battery or water-powered backup is included. Power often fails in the same storms that send water into basements, so ask whether a backup is in the price or an add-on.
Discharge piping
NOAA's 99% winter design temperature at Bush Field is 25°F, and the station records about 40 freeze-thaw cycles in an average year. A discharge line that runs above ground or ends in a low spot can freeze on a cold night and back water up to the pump. Ask how the outlet is protected, how far from the house it lets out, and whether that run is included or extra.
Excavation and exterior membranes
Digging down to the footing is the heaviest item when it appears. Depth, how many feet of wall, machine access, and what has to be removed and replaced, such as a deck, steps, a driveway section or plantings, decide the cost. The membrane, drain board and footing drain are priced by the area of wall and the length of drain. Ask whether the quote includes hauling spoil and restoring the surface afterward.
Cracks and walls
Crack injections are normally priced per crack or per foot of crack. A wall that bows, or a crack with one side offset, is a structural matter; expect a separate engineer's fee and a separate repair scope, and be wary of a quote that seals it without addressing why it moved.
Dehumidifiers and air sealing
Augusta's summer design condition in the NOAA data is 94°F with a mean coincident wet-bulb of 76°F, and the station counts about 1,242 hours a year with the wet-bulb above 73°F. Condensation from air like that won't be stopped by a drain. The drivers here are the basement's volume, the dehumidifier's capacity, whether it drains by gravity or into the sump, and any rim-joist sealing or pipe insulation bundled with it.
Reading two quotes together
Put the ten items in a column and each company's figures beside them. Gaps appear fast: one quote covers three walls and another four, one has a backup pump and the other doesn't, one includes regrading and the other assumes you'll do it. Only compare totals after the scopes match.
If one company's figure is far below the rest, find the missing line before celebrating; if one is far above, ask what it saw that the others didn't. Sometimes the expensive bidder found a second water source, and sometimes it is selling a full perimeter system for a problem a downspout extension would cure.
Before you sign
Ask what state license, if any, the company holds and look it up on the Georgia Secretary of State's license lookup. Get proof of liability coverage and workers' compensation. Keep the deposit modest, tie payments to finished stages, and read what the warranty excludes as carefully as what it covers.