Floor Drain in My Brownstone Basement
Dehumidifying my brownstone basement right now by running dehumidifier hose into pump. Pumping water up the chute and out to the backyard. Nice because we didn’t have to cut into any pipes and we have no sinks or other open drains in the basement except for an old floor drain at the front (street-side) of…
Dehumidifying my brownstone basement right now by running dehumidifier hose into pump. Pumping water up the chute and out to the backyard. Nice because we didn’t have to cut into any pipes and we have no sinks or other open drains in the basement except for an old floor drain at the front (street-side) of the basement. Come winter, my little method won’t work, so I’m eyeing the floor drain. Think it’s probably hopelessly clogged? 100+ y.o. house. Would a camera inspection be worth it?I’m guessing it runs to the storm sewer, but have no idea. Any thoughts?
The mesh grate is the best idea here.
I had a similar issue last summer with all of the rain, and I went out and bought some wire mesh to cover my drain and I haven’t had any flooding issues since.
I used 2 x 2 mesh…
http://www.bwire.com/measure_wire_cloth.htm
That will show you how to measure the wire mesh. Was not too pricey for the small piece I needed.
my sewer line runs below my cellar floor, in concrete. I’m sure because I had it dug up and new pipe put in recently, replacing a similar setup that was original to the 1919 rowhouse. Also if I forget to refill the water traps and they dry out I get nasty sewer gas in the basement. And bobjon, there are a lot of posts on Brownstoner about flooding in basements when the sewers backup due to downpour runoff. A lot of people seem to have installed a one-way check valve to address this issue.
As Bob Marvin points out, a good clue is to look at where the sewer waste line enters your house and where it travels from there–above or below the floor.
We installed a sump-pump right under the main drain pipe, next to the wall where it goes into the sewer line. The de-humidifier empties it’s water into the sump-pump container. I was advised by my plumber that a sump-pump will take out water better than a floor drain.
We have the hose from our constantly-running dehumidifier laying over the floor drain, and it works perfectly. As suggested, pour in some clean water and see what happens.
We have the hose from our constantly-running dehumidifier laying over the floor drain, and it works perfectly. As suggested, pour in some clean water and see what happens.
Many brownstones in the slope get water or moisture in their basement because Park Slope is on a slope and the water cascades beneath the surface Prospect Park which is at a much higher level beneath the surface thereby saturating the soil below grade and entering the basements either from the foundation walls or from beneath basement floor. The easiest way to solve the problem is to dig a hole in the basement floor say 24 x 24″ x 30″ deep line it with concrete or block, pour gravel on the bottom, cover the pit with a mesh grate and all water will dissipate on its own into the ground below. This works best if the hole is dug at the lowest point in the basement, if your basement floor is level, you will need to dig a trench around the perimeter to direct the water into the pit. If you want the water in the pit to dissipate faster then in a few hours, you can install a pump with a float inside the pit with a pipe leading to the house drain, however the pit without any pump will work best. Most drains in PS brownstones are above basement grade, I believe that what you have on the floor of the basement is a dry pit and does not connect up with a drain, dig up around it and you will probably find just dirt.
Good luck
definitely no dehumidifying required in wintertime.
In Brownstones almost none runs beneath the cellar floor. Remember(I don’t) that most Brownstones were built before NY had a sewer system….that’s what the backyard was for with an outhouse. Most water/toilet systems sewers were added in the 1910’s and were built above the cellar not below it….so I say again most drains in the cellar are dry wells…but some aren’t especially in ones built after that.
FWIW the drains in my cellar floor are drywells. The sewer line is overhead in the rear and at chest height in front. Yours might be different IF your sewer line runs beneith the cellar floor.