more basement water than usual
Hello When we bought our house 4 years ago, we had the basement excavated. Because there was a lot of water we had 3 sump pumps installed. These pumps have been working fine, and if we do get water it is usually because one of the pumps is jammed or not working. For the past…
Hello
When we bought our house 4 years ago, we had the basement excavated. Because there was a lot of water we had 3 sump pumps installed. These pumps have been working fine, and if we do get water it is usually because one of the pumps is jammed or not working.
For the past couple of months we have started getting some water all the time, even though all 3 pumps have been functioning properly. More importantly, the level of water in the 3 sump holes is consistently well below the level of the floor.
Anyone have any ideas where this excess water might be coming from and how it is getting past the sump pump gauntlet?
Thanks in advance!
could be groundwater – you near a river?
could be a leaky water tap from the street – yours or someone elses – if you call the DEP to test and it’s yours they will give you 3 days to repair.
Could be cracked sewer lines under you basment slab (unless they are above ground.
What I would do is a few dye tests….fabric dye or food coloring etc….go slow, one drain at a time. If any dye shows up in thje pump pits its a waste/storm line thats broken.
I’ve read that small changes to the drainage patters outside can lead to huge problems like this. You want to check your backyard sewer drains and any spouts from gutters and make sure they are functioning properly.
Here’s a quote from a architect friend. “My neighbor, an old senior citizen lady, spent over $7k installing a basement water removal system but the contractor didn’t even mention to her that her downspouts (three of them) were suppose to drain away from the house and these downspouts continued dumping the roof water right by here house walls fro an additional four years before I added the pipes for her to drain the downspouts away from her house at which time reduced the sump pumps operations drastically and dried out her basement. A perfect $20 solution as suppose to a $7000 that she was charged.”