Water in Basement cause unknown
We don’t have the money to fix whatever is wrong at the moment but I would like to have a general sense of what is causing water to appear in the unfinished basement of our 100yo ditmas park victorian. There’s a hole in the floor that was once a toilet & it’s closed off with…
We don’t have the money to fix whatever is wrong at the moment but I would like to have a general sense of what is causing water to appear in the unfinished basement of our 100yo ditmas park victorian. There’s a hole in the floor that was once a toilet & it’s closed off with what looks like folded thick sheets of lead. Also, there are about 4 metal caps, to what I imagine are pipes, in different areas of the basement floor that also have small pools of water around them. This is the 1st time we’ve seen any water in the basement but we’ve only owned the house since Feb 1st and all that snow melting had to contribute to this. There’s no bad smell or anything like that; it appears to be clean water. There are many areas of the concrete floor that are cracked & heaving as well. Do I need to do anything with this now? Can I hold off until next summer to get someone in to look at this or could this evolve into a bigger problem if unaddressed? The plumbing in the house is very old, not updated since probably the early 40’s when the lead pipes were removed. We bought a fixer-upper so we’re expecting bad things to surface.
12:46 – You are SO right about us stupid, fiscally irresponsible Americans. Maybe peopel here didn’t realize that everywhere else in the world is free of people with financial limitations, much less social ills.
Maybe we’ve got it all wrong – we just need to pillage the rest of the world like Europe did for centuries or maybe build suburb slums to house our disadvantaged so we have a built-in servant class. Darn those pesky Paris riots, huh? At least it seems we’re getting something right by invading Iraq for their oil. Maybe we can mend our ways.
And oh that’s right… some of those other countries have GREAT public educational systems so you don’t have to worry about tuition for your kids – it’s all taken care of by your 90% income tax. In fact, why work when you have such a great social wellfare system that it makes more sense NOT to work than to get a job? Maybe by denying citizenship to people born in the country we can cut down on those eligable for government support (see above re: suburban slums).
Or maybe you’re from one of the other countries where they just don’t have access to education, so again, you don’t have to worry about tuition for your kids. How practical!
I’m sure that financial troubles are uniquely American phenomena. Not so in countries like Argentina! Sure they just have to shut down the government every once in a while to keep the currency from devaluing (good time for a vacation). Or maybe things should just be like Switzerland and we should overhaul our banking system so all the drug lords will keep their money in our country… hmm… there’s a thought! China sure has things sorted out – control the value of your currency and who cares about social freedom. What a crappy place America is to live. Such money problems here!
I think you’re SO right… The rest of the world is a MUCH better, more fiscally and socially responsible place.
And, from the way it’s OBVIOUSLY the OP’s fault, I guess they don’t have plumbing and ground water problems anywhere else in the world. If we all just lived in favelas with a single communal tap, we wouldn’t be fussing about ground water or the possiblity of bad pipes in our homes. No siree!
Why the OP didn’t just consult his/her crystal ball and SEE what was going to happen is even worse than the gross financial irresponsibility!
But you know something 12:46 – most of all I wish I weren’t American so I could have an excuse to be a self-righteous asshole.
Right?
RE: guttering and roofing. We just used James from Bullseye on our Ditmas Park West house. After using others for another part of the roof and then getting many quotes for the most recent job, we have found him to be fantastic. Not to sound too much like a shill but our experience with him was honestly the best experience with a contractor I’ve had since buying our fixer upper. He understands both budget and aesthetics. He’s also done work in the neighborhood for the last 25 years, ever since he moved into the area. His number is 718 252 7000. He’s pretty hard to get in touch with so don’t be afraid to leave him more than one message.
I have had only good experiences with Gateway, and often get the same crew. They are expensive, but for a major job, at least I know it is done correctly. For small stuff, probably not worth the extra cost.
12:46 you know exactly what you can go do to yourself; what a jerk. Original Poster here: We have 3 months of mortgage pymts in the bank working on getting to 6 months. We save $ monthly for specific projects. I don’t have the money for a plumbing project saved up yet. I do have money budgeted & saved for the gutters/roof which need work this summer. Why bother defending myself? Arggg.
Don’t Use Gateway. They send a different crew everytime and there is no continuity, they don’t communicate with each other, and there work is completely shoddy.
Maybe you shouldn’t have bought a house you can’t afford to maintain…typical of American consumers.
12:04 do you remember who you used to do that? name/#?
We have a ditmas victorian and had basement flooding. It turned out that the sewer pipes needed to be cleaned out. When the guy came to do the job, he pulled out ridiculously large roots out of the pipes. Thanks god we took care of it, the problem would have just gotten worse. Its only a few hundred to have the pipes cleaned out. Well worth it.
9:40/9:57 … the money is going to or new mortgage & tuition for our kids. Is this worth taking $ from our emergency savings account? Sounds like maybe Yes.