Forum Archive: Posts by: ssloper

I haven’t heard anything on my post from this morning about my garden floor, rain pooling on the step, seeping in and causing damage cuz no drain. Any thoughts on whether a “dry sewer” is necessary? About $1400 for the whole job, installing “sewer” and cosmetic work, new drywall, etc. Thanks.

We own a 3-story 2-family frame house. The steps leading into the garden level of the house(the access for our tenant) tend to collect water during heavy rainfall. Rain pools on the bottom step, which has a flat metal lip all around, and then leaks around the doorframe on both sides. There is no drain on the inside so, this summer, with heavy rains and then high temps, mold arrived, sheetrock on interior wall is damaged, etc. We want to repair the cosmetics but also solve this draining issue. One contractor suggested a “dry sewer” where he would install a drain that would carry water into the soil under the street, rather than hooking up with the main sewer line, which is a much bigger job. Another contractor suggested adding a taller lip on the bottom step to prevent water from leaking into the house before we vacumn it out (we need to buy a dry-vac). But a lip might cause our tenant to trip and fall! Any suggestions? Thanks!