Weird basement water issue
#1
02-01-05, 04:10 PM
Weird basement water issue
Hi,
We bought a house a year ago - we know the area has some basement water issues and we did an inspection and found little evidence of water damage. The owner proudly showed us a sump pump system that was installed maybe 5 years ago, the pump looked new and the water levels in the hole did not seem to approach the top.
Fast forward to now - since that time we've weathered a couple of hurricanes and are pleased by the lack of issues in the basement. However during one storm, the water on the ground surface raised significantly and water poured down our outside basement steps, where it usually drains well. However this time the water carried with it a bunch of leaves, plugging the drain (we've since learned our lesson and keep things clean). Anyhow, the water rose and entered the basement through the exterior door frame and started flooding the basement. Luckily I came downstairs to check on something else and saw about an 1" in places and got the wet/dry vac out and cleaned up the drain & cleared the water out.
The interesting thing is how the water spread. The door where the water came in is in a laundry room - this is where the sump pump is. I'd say about 1/2 of that room was flooded, and maybe 1/3 of an ajoining room was flooded. I'd hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't caught it in time. What interested me most was that the water in the laundry room did not come close to the sump pump. The pump area is higher than the rest of the room, so that would be one of the last places water would end up during such a flood. There is no other drain in that room, so I would say that probably 75% of my basement would flood before water went through the pump hole.
During further investigation, I saw that the water level in the pump hole did not rise too much, maybe it raised 6". At that time I discovered that the pump didn't work, I found it strange that it didn't kick in during the storm. Doh - it wasn't plugged in - it never was (the cord was still wrapped). Unfortunately even plugged in the pump doesn't work, looks like I should replace it.
OK - sorry to be long winded but here's my question: what can I do to prevent this sort of flooding in the future? Let's say I'm out of town & leaves gather again over the drain - water will come in. Rather than spread through the basement, I'd like it to drain into the sump hole where the pump would take care of it.
I was thinking of two approaches:
1) create a channel where the water would drain to the whole, or
2) have a drain installed & have it flow to the hole.
The basement floor is concrete and at some point, I'd like to at least paint or raise the floor (dricore?) & cover it somehow to make it nicer for my wife. I painted my workshop floor w/ an epoxy paint - looks great.
Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Bob
We bought a house a year ago - we know the area has some basement water issues and we did an inspection and found little evidence of water damage. The owner proudly showed us a sump pump system that was installed maybe 5 years ago, the pump looked new and the water levels in the hole did not seem to approach the top.
Fast forward to now - since that time we've weathered a couple of hurricanes and are pleased by the lack of issues in the basement. However during one storm, the water on the ground surface raised significantly and water poured down our outside basement steps, where it usually drains well. However this time the water carried with it a bunch of leaves, plugging the drain (we've since learned our lesson and keep things clean). Anyhow, the water rose and entered the basement through the exterior door frame and started flooding the basement. Luckily I came downstairs to check on something else and saw about an 1" in places and got the wet/dry vac out and cleaned up the drain & cleared the water out.
The interesting thing is how the water spread. The door where the water came in is in a laundry room - this is where the sump pump is. I'd say about 1/2 of that room was flooded, and maybe 1/3 of an ajoining room was flooded. I'd hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't caught it in time. What interested me most was that the water in the laundry room did not come close to the sump pump. The pump area is higher than the rest of the room, so that would be one of the last places water would end up during such a flood. There is no other drain in that room, so I would say that probably 75% of my basement would flood before water went through the pump hole.
During further investigation, I saw that the water level in the pump hole did not rise too much, maybe it raised 6". At that time I discovered that the pump didn't work, I found it strange that it didn't kick in during the storm. Doh - it wasn't plugged in - it never was (the cord was still wrapped). Unfortunately even plugged in the pump doesn't work, looks like I should replace it.
OK - sorry to be long winded but here's my question: what can I do to prevent this sort of flooding in the future? Let's say I'm out of town & leaves gather again over the drain - water will come in. Rather than spread through the basement, I'd like it to drain into the sump hole where the pump would take care of it.
I was thinking of two approaches:
1) create a channel where the water would drain to the whole, or
2) have a drain installed & have it flow to the hole.
The basement floor is concrete and at some point, I'd like to at least paint or raise the floor (dricore?) & cover it somehow to make it nicer for my wife. I painted my workshop floor w/ an epoxy paint - looks great.
Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Bob
#2
02-02-05, 09:53 PM
Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 190
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
