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July 18, 2007
Water in basement
Last week, I posted about water in basement during that big rainstorm. I took the advice to hang out in the basement during the rain. It seems as though the water is emerging from the drains.
Before I bought the house, I had the main sewer line from the street inspected. It was fine -- clear, no cracks, and pitched correctly.
What do I do now? Is this a backup from the street or is something going on with my drains? Should I have my drains roto-rotored (is that the word)? Should I call the city?
Thanks!
Comments
Welcome to Brooklyn. We've had the city come out and assess: they cleared all the lines on our street (Garfield Place in Park Slope) and informed us that the city lines simply cannot handle the runoff during these hard and fast rains. Some neighbors had a check valve installed- which lets water flow out of your systems but keeps water from the street line backing up into your outgoing line. Catch has been that the runoff from their roof comes down so hard and fast, it now backs up and overflows their lowest6 level toilet! They claim they were better off having the cellar flood. We installed a sump pump to help remove it once it floods up - but have not found a perfect solution. The city won't be replacing the sewer lines down these side streets anytime soon.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 18, 2007 9:15 AM
i've been living with that problem for three-odd years. its been a trying experience. i don't even have any drains inside my basement - its the drains on the small stoops outside in the front and back.
the guy who sold the house to me was completely defeated by this problem, he didn't want to sell (and of course didn't tell me anything about it) but just couldn't get it fixed.
here's a website that talks about the problem and solutions. its based out of san francisco but the info mostly applies.
http://www.sewersmart.org/connection.html
the 9:15 poster is right, though, if you keep using your drains or if rainwater drains into your sewer above the sewer backflow check valve it will still cause flooding. but if you have a competent enough plumber they can devise a system that may include a tank and a pump which will minimize the problem.
the easy solution to 9:15's problem is to have the rainwater from the gutters drain far away from the building, not into the building's sewer line. (which mine already does, i just don't have the backflow device installed yet.)
Posted by: nick on sackett at July 18, 2007 9:37 AM
Does anyone feel good about any particular plumber for looking at and diagnosing problems like these? We have cellar back-up, too much draining off our roof (even with the gutter cleaned), etc. Does Master Plumber still feel a back-flow device is more trouble than it's worth? We have a valve to prevent water from backing up into our laundry sink in the cellar, which I used last time... but I think something might have come up into our dishwasher instead, cos I heard gurgling and it smelled a little. Urgh. God knows what will greet us when we get home from work tonight!
Posted by: anon at July 18, 2007 10:21 AM
With this morning's rain, I too noticed bubbling (backup) in not just my 1st floor but also my 2nd toilet. Nick (9:37), with properties connected, as brownstones are, wouldn't draining from the house cause the water then to backup/flood in the backyard (and/or your neighbors)?
Posted by: BedStyliving at July 18, 2007 10:23 AM
My (tenants) basement has flooded 3 times in the last month - after being dry for the first 16 months I had the house. This morning the water was gushing in from (I think) the back wall somewhere. Had two plumbers look at it - one said a drain in the back yard, the other said don't do that but concrete the patio in the back yard so water doesn't soak in at the rate it's doing now - through blue stone that has certainly seen better days.
A contractor looked at it, he was unsure but suggested a pump and a drain to make the water go away and then the concrete to (hopefully) reduce the seepage. Problem is the last owner put in a raised floor over the part of the basement that's finished. Which, coincidentally is where the water seems to be coming from.
Getting a few more opinions. God this is a pain - and worse for my poor tenants.
Posted by: John at July 18, 2007 11:13 AM
Just a thought- My neighbors had a new gutter installed. But where the gutter reaches the sewer line was not cleaned out. So all the water from the roof overflowed and flooded my basement. We solved it by having them snake their drains. But I would have thought that the gutter installer would have made sure the drain ran clear as well.
Posted by: Alisa at July 18, 2007 11:30 AM
Yes check the storm sewer pipe where the roof gutter drains into, to see that it's clear and working. It's not unusual for the storm sewer to get broken or capped off.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 18, 2007 4:14 PM
John, make sure they check your roof gutters and they put a camera down your storm sewer to check it out. Hire a plumber yourself, to do it. We had water pouring in through our back foundation walls, coming in at the very bottom of the wall near the floor. It was because the dummy flipper seller of our house had capped off the storm sewer, and detached the roof gutter aiming all the water onto the cement at the back of the house. Something our genius inspector (from Coull Engineering) didn't even notice, when it was visible to the naked eye for someone who knows about such things. Anyway, it's amazing how much water will come in through foundation walls and how easily, if water is pooling up at the back of your house. Our solution was a big new drywell in back, all new cement regrading it so it directed the water away from the house and into the drywell drain. And of course we had to plumb a new storm sewer to put the roof runoff into it. It worked. Knock on wood it keeps working. We had a dry basement last night. Good luck. Good luck to everybody.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 18, 2007 4:26 PM
NFN I was down at Lowes near the Gowanus Canal just after the big rain this morning. I walked over to 9th Street to see if it flooded again (see the picture on the Mayor's emergency preparedness brochure). Well, I wish I had a surf board when the buses finally got through and made those waves. I figure it was one- or two-feet deep near the bridge. This was equal to the water level of the Gowanus Canal. I had observed the water level from Lowes flooded parking lot which was draining directly into the Canal.
I looked at the storage bins under the El and wondering where they'll end up when THE BIG ONE hits.
I think it is timely to ask what we can realistically expect. People in Brooklyn are buying and building on flood plains and at low elevations. Of course, they then want to build down. You want to be careful, or get a surf board.
Posted by: tom at July 18, 2007 4:54 PM
This one for 4:26 on 7/18, or anyone else who knows: How much did that kind of plumbing/drywell/redoing storm drain work cost?
Posted by: Anonymous at July 19, 2007 11:20 AM
I posted at 4:26 at 7/18. We paid $4,500 for the following: busting out old cement, digging and building big drywell, recementing the back of the house regraded towards the drain for the drywell. And for the new storm sewer, which was dug on the other side of the basement and the roof gutter extended along the back of the house and into the new storm sewer, we paid only $1,000 something like that because we were using a plumber who works for the city, and does cash jobs on weekends. So we paid less than normal. I'd give his name but we had trouble reaching him, when we called about finishing one little thing on the job. Get a few quotes for the storm sewer, because you'll hear a range, and it shouldn't be that much really because our guy had one helper with him and they did the whole thing in one day, all the work of it on the outside of the house and inside too. Also, alert your handyman because plumbers will ask that you get a handyman or someone else to recement and retile over the basement floor where they put in the new storm sewer.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 19, 2007 12:38 PM
We put in a check valve three years ago, after several years of having the toilet in our English basement turn into a geyser in severe thunderstorms. (Man, have I learned to dread the Weather Service flash-flood warning.) Since then we've had two floods in total, rather than one or two per summer, and only one escaped the bathroom to trash the carpet.
But as the above would indicate, the check valve isn't perfect. I don't know if ours is busted or just got overwhelmed somehow -- that's on the list of things to deal with after I get the fricking carpet dried out.
Homeownership, bah!
Posted by: BklynJace at July 19, 2007 1:08 PM
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