Hi- Don't know if I should post this question in basements or bath, but since it involved drilling, I think this section might be best. Anyway, I'm finsihing my basement and putting in a full bath, which will require an exhaust fan (no window) and running ducting from the fan between the overhead joists to the exterior of the house. I have lots of ducting between my existing overhead joists, so I only have one "channel" between the joists that will provide an easy path for the flexible ducting exhaust to run to the exterior wall. When we removed the insulation from the inside of the exterior wall in order to cut a 4" hole to reach outside, we saw that the wood we would have to drill though is quite thick (looks like a header but I don't think it is), and it is actually the wood that the end of the joists are nailed to which in turn are supporting the floor overhead. Am I allowed, per code, to drill a 4" hole into this piece of wood that the ends of the joists are nailed to so that I can vent this exhaust ducting to the exterior of the house? If I can't, how much of a "bend" is allowed in the bathroom exhaust flexible ducting in order for it to make 2 90 degree bends in order to get it to an area of the wall that is below this "thick wood?" Is there any code requirement as to how much bending one can do with this flexible exhaust ducting for a bathroom exhaust fan? Thanks for your time in advance, Steve

I moved into a new house a couple years ago, and I almost immediately began fighting with the basement. Whenever we get really heavy rain -- usually a couple times a year -- the sump fills up and a couple inches of water gets into the basement. This is a major pain! I have put up some defenses: I removed the carpet and wooden baseboards and replaced them with an epoxy-based, painted floor and vinyl cove base. This has stopped the serious damage from floods, but cleaning up is still a hassle. What I really want to do is stop the water from coming in. The sump pit is sealed, because there is a radon mitigation system installed, but the water creeps out from underneath the lid. The sump pump runs constantly during these floods, so I know it's working -- it just can't pump the water out fast enough. I'm looking for some options. Could the drainage pipes be backed up? Do I need to have those snaked? Are the drain pipes coming into the sump pit too large? Do I need to smallen them? Do I need to re-route some of the groundwater that's coming into the sump pit? How on earth do I do that? Do I need a faster sump pump? The one I've got down there is 1/3 HP, but it doesn't list the gallons per minute. A second sump pump? Do I route that through the same output pipe? Or can I assume it's overloaded, and I need to send it out some other way? Does my sump pit need to be bigger? It looks like it's about 36" deep by 18" across. However, the most recent flood covered 300 sq ft about 4" deep, so that's like 100 cu ft of additional capacity I'd need, and that seems like a big hole to dig. Suggestions are welcome. I have called a contractor, but I haven't heard back from him yet.