Forum Archive: Cellar

For the last couple of weeks Ive noticed water in the basement. Most of it was not alot and i attributed it to melting snow and precipitation then the last couple of days it grew to most of the basement and was about 5 inches deep at the deepest part. I pumped it out to find it come back. After bringing in a plumber he suggested that i get the people involved from next door as it appeared to be seeping in. Turns out there was a broken pipe next door in the house that noone lives in ( estate home). Today they came in and i was able to kill the water to the house and pump out about fifteen inches of water in their basement. Ive never had to deal with this kind of thing before so my question is they are calling in their insurance carrier. What kind of things should i be demanding that they look at and compensate me for. I have minimal damage to things in the basement as most5 things are raised up off the floor save some holiday decorations and some wood.. Should i be looking to have any kind of engineer in for the foundation? The houses in question are fully attached brick houses that were built around 1890. I should also note that the house on the other side of me had some seepage too that they were pumping out for the last two weeks but not near as bad as mine

We have a slightly sagging point at the rear corner of the basement level. I’d like to put a support to raise it an inch in the cellar. I went to two construction supply places and they both have posts in a box that you assemble called Tiger. They were very unimpressive sheet steel tubing.
Where should I be looking for a single piece cast iron tube with a threaded adjustable stem at one end? (see screengrab drawing) I thought they were the standard thing, but the sales guys at these places tell me everybody uses this cheesy steel thing.

Hi all. We’re thinking about making an offer on a renovated Park Slope ground level brownstone apartment with cellar and back garden included. Lived in upper floor apts all our lives and trying to get info on how common cellar flooding is. Are there specific questions I should be asking the broker, like what sort of drainage system was installed during the renovation? We like this apartment but are nervous about the flood risk. Thanks for any insight.

Hi, We’re about to move into a new house that needs a little rubbish removal and a deep clean. Does anyone have recommendations? Is there anyone who does both?

Hi,
We are in the process of a gut reno and considering what flooring to use for the cellar over the concrete slab. The kids will use it as a playroom so considering this. http://www.flexitiles.com/productinfo.htm

Anyone have any experience with it as we are putting radiant heat in the cellar and it does get a couple inches of water 2 to 3 times a year.

Any advice on this or other ‘soft’ tile solutions would be much appreciated.

Hi All,

I’ve got a flat metal hatch which leads from my carport into my cellar. It’s the kind that you see on sidewalks in front of stores, with two doors that overlap. The thing leaks water into the cellar every time it rains. Our contractor – we’ve been renovating other things in the house – thinks that the only options are to replace the hatch with a new one or to cut it out and seal the hole up by placing steel supports under concrete and then asphalting over the concrete. (The rest of the carport is asphalt.) Both of these are really expensive options, plus the latter means losing direct access to the cellar. Anyone have any other ideas how we can stop he leaks? I thought of welding the doors shut, but this would also mean losing access and I’m also not sure it would work. Any other ideas?
Thanks!

Our neighbors have been complaining that their wet basement is caused by some problem in our house. There was indeed a fair amount of water that flowed in big rainstorms from our side, under the fence to their side, as the land slopes down toward them. We consulted a contractor and had a French drain built at the edge of our property to drain away the water, as well as a stone curb to keep any pooling water from flowing to their side.

Today I get this email from him–which implies we’ve been ignoring his entries and have done nothing:

“We got a fair amount of water in our basement last night through our adjoining wall, enough to cause damage and have the corner of our basement begin to powder.

This is now almost three months of appealing to you to deal with this problem and the fact that a rain like yesterday’s causes damage and leaking like this tells me we have a serious problem that needs to be addressed quickly.

We’ve been through this enough now to know something is not being addressed properly, so I’m suggesting you look, again, at the issue of how the water is draining through your drain and have it done by someone with some kind of expertise in this area.

Is there a crack in a pipe? A slow leak? Is water overwhelming the drain? Is your gutter faulty in some way? I’m not sure. But I am wondering what your plan is because clearly what has been done up to today is not sufficient.”

What is the deal here? (Aside from the fact that I have an annoying neighbor) Is it actually likely that I’m causing his water problems? He’s got a coal hatch in his back yard, near the property line–seems to me this is a likely source of water seepage, more likely than any problem on my property. Am I required to fix his wet basement? What’s the deal?

Hello. We have a typical situation in our cellar, an old crumbling cement floor that slopes quite a bit. We are considering a basement renovation and would be interested in hearing from anyone with experience in pouring a new floor. Or, any other creative solutions.

Thanks,

David

Hi,

We want to put a vent into our boiler room of our brick house to keep the air circulating.

Who would I call to have this done, contractor? Mason? And what should I expect to pay?

Thanks again for your advice. This forum is a godsend to first time homeowners like myself.

Cheers.