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 –…
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!
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!
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)?