Basement flooding in heavy rain

see what dibs says and have someone run a video down there.

stevecym

in General Discussion 6 years ago

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Guest User | 6 years ago

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We’re having a basement flooding problem in our brownstone and I was wondering if our problem is common. The rain from our roof flows into a pipe that feeds back into the house and exits through the basement into the sewage line. In regular circumstances it’s fine, but when there’s a major downpour it seems to overload the sewage line and flows back into the basement. Tonight was particularly bad. We only first noticed it last year after getting our roof redone (maybe the water flows better off the roof?), and it seems to happen every couple of months when it rains really hard. I’m not sure if this means we likely have a blockage in the sewer line or if it’s just that the pipe just simply can’t handle that much water flow at once.

Anyone else with a similar experience? Any suggestions? I’m thinking I should have a plumber try to snake the line in case it’s partially blocked, but wanted to check with the community first. Thanks!

Arkady | 6 years ago

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A lot of people are having a similar problem & it’s really complicated. One neighbor of mine has had 5 different companies look at his & gotten widely varying solutions. I would get the snake done since even a small clog can have a big impact. The next step would be some kind of backstop valve but it’s anyone’s guess which is best.

stevecym | 6 years ago

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listen, I am not sure what that stuff is they put into the joints on cast sewer lines and how much pressure that stuff should handle as a waste line is not intended to be under a lot of pressure (though water coming down from a three story roof may weigh a lot) like a water from a city main, but I would check that caulking material and read about it to find how it should look and how it fails. also, I am not sure what is legal but is it possible to change that kind of line over to one that uses rubber connectors (no hub) instead of the traditional caulked iron hubs. the no hub connectors will not leak. also, we had one of these lines in a building I worked at years ago and it generally worked fine, but one day a really bad downpour came and it leaked all over. it was behind a lot of crap in a closet and had not been inspected in some time and when we got to it, we found some holes in it that had been there for a while but had not been an issue until a lot of water got put down the line.

and after writing all of this, I realized that water may not be backing up through the roof drain line but through the house trap, in other words there might be a clog some place as arkady suggests, but perhaps the entire waste line is over burdened? is there a way to properly seal the caps on the house trap (I think they just sit there, no?) and will the water come through the over flow which is there to ensure it does not come up through the shower drains, etc?

now. do not take any action on anything I said here without doing your own research. you now have some terms to use “no hub” pipes and see if they can be used in waste lines and specifically roof drains in NYC. and consult a plumber. if this was my house, I would probably do it myself without giving it another thought, but as a professional who is not a plumber, I cannot tell you to do that-

good luck.

cwbarchitects | 6 years ago

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We are between 5/6th and have dealt with it

Punchline is there is no escaping gravity – we had pumps and dehumidifiers when it got bad

One thing you cannot allow is mold

cwbarchitects | 6 years ago

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We are between 5/6th and have dealt with it

Punchline is there is no escaping gravity – we had pumps and dehumidifiers when it got bad

One thing you cannot allow is mold

daveinbedstuy | 6 years ago

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Inspect sewer line out to main street sewer. Probably clogged with roots. Could be a simple roto rootering fix is all it needs.