James Pratt started his home construction / sub-contracting business in 1984 while working in New Jersey. In 1987, James moved to the Boston area with approximately $900 dollars, restarted the business, and quickly expanded throughout New England. By 1989, Mr. Pratt had started and ran five companies - remodeling, commercial construction, steel buildings, fire and water damage restoration / reconstruction and basement waterproofing.

James worked and extraordinary amount of hours managing the five businesses and after several years decided to focus on his biggest success - basement waterproofing. James saw the waterproofing reality that having apprentice level construction personnel looking for a break, were far better than having seasoned pros that were hard to rely on. Having been in the industry for years, he saw the issues of the products and the business practices that worked and did not work.

James developed his own products, concepts and ideas. Developing a business that he could have others mimic, he wrote procedural books on sales, administration, production, warehouse and general business know how. He started an international dealer network patterning all the dealer businesses after his own in the New England area. The ability to completely satisfy customers through procedures and training of lower-level construction personnel was appealing, leaving James time open for creating and developing procedures, patents, products, and creating the international dealer network.

Today James' company uses unique lead generation practices that are on the cutting edge of the industry. The products and business procedures remain the same tried and true and are ever evolving as the business climates. James, in addition to waterproofing now also focuses on structural repair, foundation piering, mudjacking, mold remediation, epoxy flooring and fire/water damage restoration.

James graduated from Southern Guilford high school and was deciding whether to enter the Merchant Marine Academy or go to engineering school. With the help of his father, James organized a trip on the merchant ship "Austral Pilot" to South Africa. That summer, James spent three weeks on the deck and three weeks in the engine room to decide if he wanted to enter the Merchant Marine Academy for the Deck program or the Engine program. James moved on to Monmouth College in New Jersey, University of Colorado in Boulder and finally, the Florida Institute of Technology in Jensen Beach where James earned a Bachelor of Science Degree for Applied Technology with an Associates Degree in Offshore Marine Technology an Associates Degree in Petroleum Technology.

After graduating from college and unable to find legitimate work in offshore petroleum related jobs, James re-entered the construction industry with the goal of becoming a carpenter in a short period of time. In order to do this, he worked seven days a week, year round and often times for free to better learn the trade. The contractors he worked for were understandably thrilled to have free labor on Saturdays and Sundays and were quick to accommodate him in reaching his goal.
Mr. Pratt's goal was to become a carpenter with the equivalent of fifteen years worth of experience within a short period of time. After a short period of time, James started sub-contracting from major contractors in new construction developments. He specialized in framing, sheathing, complicated roof rafter work and finished carpentry.

In the mid 1980's, he moved to Needham Massachusetts where he immediately started his own remodeling company. With a strong work ethic instilled in him since college, he quickly became successful in remodeling. After a short while James branched off into basement waterproofing and then purchased a franchise operation for fire and water damage restoration and reconstruction.
Shortly after that James saw a need to improve on the waterproofing designs or systems and started developing his own products for the basement waterproofing industry. He saw a niche market where he had a special proficiency and started developing and patenting his own products. After much research, analysis and scrutiny of the industry, James now moved toward a goal of forming an international chain of basement waterproofing contractors.

Basement Technologies started to grow exponentially when he focused on it exclusively - without the distractions of the other companies. He setup and international network of dealers using the franchise model that he had obtained from the previous fire and water damage franchise. James wrote manuals on the daily practices, procedures and intricacies of running a basement waterproofing business which included Sales, Marketing, Administrative and Production. He set up a template based on his local company and started to sell dealerships throughout North America. Currently James has 15 patents, 14 patents pending, 26 trademarks and 8 trademarks pending.

Basement Technologies fluctuates between 50-100 employees. This statistic coupled with almost 100 international dealers for Basement Technologies with an average of 10-15 employees per company makes the impact of the operation quite significant.

If you ask James what it took to climb to the top of his industry, he will tell you - hard work, creativity, dedication, tenacity, and blind faith. "No matter how tough the road gets, never quit moving forward." Our company proudly serves the residents of Massachusetts, including Boston, MA, and surrounding areas.