Neighbor's Wet Basement: My Fault?
Our neighbors have been complaining that their wet basement is caused by some problem in our house. There was indeed a fair amount of water that flowed in big rainstorms from our side, under the fence to their side, as the land slopes down toward them. We consulted a contractor and had a French drain…
Our neighbors have been complaining that their wet basement is caused by some problem in our house. There was indeed a fair amount of water that flowed in big rainstorms from our side, under the fence to their side, as the land slopes down toward them. We consulted a contractor and had a French drain built at the edge of our property to drain away the water, as well as a stone curb to keep any pooling water from flowing to their side.
Today I get this email from him–which implies we’ve been ignoring his entries and have done nothing:
“We got a fair amount of water in our basement last night through our adjoining wall, enough to cause damage and have the corner of our basement begin to powder.
This is now almost three months of appealing to you to deal with this problem and the fact that a rain like yesterday’s causes damage and leaking like this tells me we have a serious problem that needs to be addressed quickly.
We’ve been through this enough now to know something is not being addressed properly, so I’m suggesting you look, again, at the issue of how the water is draining through your drain and have it done by someone with some kind of expertise in this area.
Is there a crack in a pipe? A slow leak? Is water overwhelming the drain? Is your gutter faulty in some way? I’m not sure. But I am wondering what your plan is because clearly what has been done up to today is not sufficient.”
What is the deal here? (Aside from the fact that I have an annoying neighbor) Is it actually likely that I’m causing his water problems? He’s got a coal hatch in his back yard, near the property line–seems to me this is a likely source of water seepage, more likely than any problem on my property. Am I required to fix his wet basement? What’s the deal?
You didn’t say whether there was something different, like construction going on, or renovation that they’re blaming on you. If you were doing yard construction, the building department’s approval of your plan should help protect you against a claim of fault.
Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions.
Honestly, your neighbor’s letter seems pretty thoughtful, considering their obvious frustration, They’re trying to work it out, they think it might be coming from your side, what can be done?
Plenty of good suggestions about the water itself above – just thought I’d weigh in on the etiquette. All things considered, this seems civilized.
I think Bklnite has the right approach.
I would add something to indicate openness to talk about other solutions with an expert. e.g. “If you have had an experienced plumber evaluate your situation and they have determined the source is coming from our house please feel free to have them contact me to discuss their findings.”
I think a brief response like Maly et. al. suggest would be a nice courtesy. “We consulted a contractor and had a French drain built at the edge of our property to drain away the water, as well as a stone curb to keep any pooling water from flowing to [your] side…We also did a hose test …and there appears to be no blockage in our sewer pipes.”
It appears you’ve done what you can and it’s now your neighbor’s problem not yours. If you want to do more to help him that would be nice and neighborly of you, but you’re not obligated and he’s got no right to demand it.
If your basement is dry it certainly sounds as if you’re not causing the problem. I agree it’d be a good idea for you to draft a note telling you neighbor what you’ve done – including the hose check & other seemingly minor things. Mention that you do not have water in your basement & then see if he’s more conciliatory about working w/ you to solve the problem.
Maly’s advice is good. You and your nieghbor should be working together to root out the problem. Why not agree to make appts with a professional to look over both properties at once, while BOTH of you are in attendance.
This could also be related to a problem with your neighbor’s basement waste line. One of my neighbors got water in his basement and rear garden floor during torrential downpours and presumed that it was coming from his neighbors’ yards. But it turned out that the trap in his basement waste line, toward the rear of his house, was plugged with debris (leaves, acorns, etc.) that had been carried down his rear downspout by rainwater over a period of years. In torrential downpours, that clog prevented normal drainage from the downspout, and forced the water back upward, where it exited the drain behind his kitchen door on the garden level, and proceeded to flood his yard, from which it entered his basement and kitchen along the line where his yard met the house. Once he got his waste line scoped and roto-rootered, torrential rains ceased to be a problem. the downspout drains directly into the waste line and thence to the sewer in the street, and the flooding in his basement and kitchen has stopped completely.
We had a similar problem, which turned out to have an unexpected cause. There is only one downspout from both of our buildings’ roof gutters, which is apparently how some buildings were constructed in the late 19th century. We had a plumber open up the joint downspout pipe that was leading into a drain outside the neighbors’ basement door and discovered that at some point, some earlier plumber had left a broken-off plumber’s snake in the pipe. Over the years, enough debris had accumulated to create a serious blockage, causing the water to back up and overwhelm the drains behind both of our buildings. When the drains were overwhelmed, water would flow under the basement doors into both of our buildings.
NOTE: I originally thought, as does your neighbor, that the water coming into my basement was flowing under or through the party wall from the neighbor’s basement, but this turned out NOT to be the case upon closer inspection.
We also had a plumber snake out the sewer pipe under the entire length of both of our buildings, both of which turned out to be clogged.
By the way, we both opened up our basements to each other and jointly engaged a plumber to address the flooding on both sides. Clearly, if your neighbor thinks his basement flooding is your fault, at a minimum he needs to let you and a plumber inspect his basement to assess the situation.