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This is a long one, so get comfy folks. We own a three story brownstone in BK. Like many of you, when we had tremendous amounts of rain, storm water used to back up through the main trap of the building and into our basement. I’m talking a LOT of water. Disgusting. We were told that the location of our building at the intersection of several storm drains was to blame. Our neighbors have similar problems. At the advice of several plumbers, we installed a check valve in the waste line. Thankfully, no more storm water in the basement. However, where am I supposed to send the roof water? Currently, the downspout is improperly rigged to direct all the water from the roof onto the back patio from where it drains, slowly, into the waste line that runs under the building. When we get a lot of rain, the patio floods and water leaks in through the basement door. There is also a small extension off the first floor and honestly. I’m not sure where that roof water goes. There is a small drain on this roof that I suspect hooks up to the waste line somewhere inside the building. The real dilemma is, if the check valve is engaged, temporarily blocking water from coming in or out of the building, what is the best way to deal with the volume of water coming off the roof? Is it possible to create a system where it drains into the waste line but can be diverted into the yard if that line is full? I know a few other people on the forum have confronted this problem. What was your ultimate solution?
We’d appreciate your advice.