Well, it happened - water in basement!

debodun

debodun

SF VIP
Location
way upstate in New York, USA
After fretting about mildewed books, we received over 4" of rain in 90 minutes Friday afternoon. My basement had about 2" of water. The fire dept was going around doing pump outs. When I saw the truck up the street, I went and talked to the driver. He came over and looked, but he said the amount I had didn't warrant a pump out.
It was next to nothing compared to other basements. I guess I'm on my own, but I have a LOT of things stored down there in cardboard boxes that are now soaked. Much of the basement is carpeted and now is squishy. Even if I brought the up, I have no place to put anything. There is also carpeting in 3/4 of the basement that is soaked. I did hand bail the sump. Since I never dealt with this before, I am not sure what to do. Probably insurance doesn't cover storm damage.

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This may be covered by your homeowner policy. If so, hire someone to pump it out - any handyman or woman can do this. Also, a cleaning service to finish the cleanup.

Otherwise, get an inexpensive submersible utility pump and garden hose and remove as much water as you can. Mop up the rest. Place fans to dry up along with a dehumidifier to collect moisture.

That carpeting might have to come out, unfortunately. What you want to prevent is organic surfaces like wood and cardboard staying wet over long periods as these may then produce mold. It’s a bummer I know as we dealt with this yearly before getting our sump pump.

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I see you have a sump pump out of the basin. Did it fail? Is that why your basement flooded? Or was there more water than the pump could handle?

If it was too much water have a stronger pump installed, something that moves more gallons per minute/hour.

If it was because your power was out and the pump couldnt work you can get a battery backup sump pump installed as a secondary pump.
 
Michael Z said:
This may be covered by your homeowner policy. If so, hire someone to pump it out - any handyman or woman can do this. Also, a cleaning service to finish the cleanup.

Otherwise, get an inexpensive submersible utility pump and garden hose and remove as much water as you can. Mop up the rest. Place fans to dry up along with a dehumidifier to collect moisture.

That carpeting might have to come out, unfortunately. What you want to prevent is organic surfaces like wood and cardboard staying wet over long periods as these may then produce mold. It’s a bummer I know as we dealt with this yearly before getting our sump pump.

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I was just going to say the same thing....

This is a nightmare for anyone living alone to deal with.

deb do you have a seniors or age related charity near you, you could ring to see if they can help as well ?
 
C50 said:
I see you have a sump pump out of the basin. Did it fail? Is that why your basement flooded? Or was there more water than the pump could handle?

If it was too much water have a stronger pump installed, something that moves more gallons per minute/hour.

If it was because your power was out and the pump couldnt work you can get a battery backup sump pump installed as a secondary pump.
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I have a portable generator for that purpose. Also a small submersible pump as a backup.
 
Deb,, sorry to read that your basement flooded.

With every hard rain my basement. floods.

Problem is there is a "wet weather ' spring under the floor.

This old house needed a "french drain put in around the foundation.
At that we didn't realize you needed heavier PVC pipes.

I think dirt ,etc have settled & perhaps the cheap pipe has broke.
To install new pipe would meaning tearing up side walks .
Start over again. on foundation, new gravel & pipes.

Guess what I saying ,is your problem could be similar to regarding how your foundation was put in, treated & drainage put in place.
 
debodun said:
Fortunately, we didn't lose power. The pump just doesn't work. I had to take it up to hand bail the sump. It wasn't just that, either. There was seepage all around the edge of the basement floor, so it was coming in everywhere. The sump pump wouldn't have helped with water 50 feet away.
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Now you know why the previous owner sold this place. The first thing you need to do is hire a dumpster service to bring over a dumpster and fill it with the "clutter" you have stored in the basement. Then, hire a professional company like "Foundation Recovery Systems" to inspect your Empty basement, and perform the necessary water proofing repairs. Most likely the basement has foundation cracks where the walls meet the floor.
You have two choices....spend the money to fix this situation properly, or live with a major mess every time a heavy rain hits your area.
 
debodun said:
The sump pump wouldn't have helped with water 50 feet away.
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Your sump pump is located in a basin that should have the footer tile from around your foundation running into it. If the sump pump fails the basin overflows but water also backs up around your foundation because the footer tiles aren't draining, that's probably why water was seeping in along the floor.

I'm still not sure if your pump failed as in no longer works or if it simply failed to keep up with the amount of water that got dumped on your area.

Anyway....yeah it's a mess when the basement floods. Before anything else just make sure you have a good working sump pump in place. That was an unusual amount of rain you had, as long as you have a working pump I wouldn't worry about any foundation issues unless you get seepage everytime it rains.
 
C50 said:
Your sump pump is located in a basin that should have the footer tile from around your foundation running into it. If the sump pump fails the basin overflows but water also backs up around your foundation because the footer tiles aren't draining, that's probably why water was seeping in along the floor.

I'm still not sure if your pump failed as in no longer works or if it simply failed to keep up with the amount of water that got dumped on your area.

Anyway....yeah it's a mess when the basement floods. Before anything else just make sure you have a good working sump pump in place. That was an unusual amount of rain you had, as long as you have a working pump I wouldn't worry about any foundation issues unless you get seepage everytime it rains.
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In Deb's post #18 in her "I need a dehumidifier" in the HOME category she points out the sump pump failure & what she had to do to get rid of the water.

Recommendations were made that might have avoided this latest problem for her. No way to know for a fact that would have avoided this. But considering the previous owner had carpeting it seems reasonable to believe hiring a professional to make repairs would have been the way to go.
 
Deb I'm so sorry for this. Unfortunately it's going to cost you money to resolve everything.

Not much else in this world stinks worse than mildew and mould.

I agree with DonM's advice..... hire a dumpster and toss everything porous that got wet. Most especially the carpet. Hire professionals to clean it out, clean it up, disinfect and deodorize and a company to fix your foundation issues and install an adequate sump-pump.

Good luck with all this. 🌹
 
My MIL house built in 1920 had a leaking basement every time there was a hard rain. A company came to her house, dug a 12" trench inside the basement walls all the way around & installed a proper drain tile that lead to a sump well. The floor was cemented back & a pump was in the well that pumped the water out to the city sewer. This was all done in the the mid-1980s & the basement didn't flood again. It was the best thing she ever did in that house.

Once a year, she had a $25 fee that covered her if anything went wrong. Didn't ever have to use it, but it gave her peace of mind. That contract transferred to the new owner of the house when it was sold.
 
Good thing it's a sunny and warm day. I brought up boxes of my playing card collection that were on the floor and spread them on tables to air out. Good thing most of my collection was up on the bar. Scoff if you will about playing cards, but some of these I had since childhood and remember playing card games with my dear father with them. Some might even be collector's items like advertising now defunct companies. And heaven forbid anything happened to my cat-themed decks!

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debodun said:
Good thing it's a sunny and warm day. I brought up boxes of my playing card collection that were on the floor and spread them on tables to air out. Good thing most of my collection was up on the bar. Scoff if you will about playing cards, but some of these I had since childhood and remember playing card games with my dear father with them. Some might even be collector's items like advertising now defunct companies. And heaven forbid anything happened to my cat-themed decks!

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Another timely suggestion that will be ignored

Regular Maintenance
The first step to protecting your deck against weather-related damage is not a one-time action. Instead, the best thing you can do is to check on your deck regularly and perform maintenance when required. Regular deck maintenance includes inspecting the structure’s integrity, replacing hardware where necessary and keeping it clean year-round.

6 of the Best Ways to Protect Your Deck from Harsh Weather
 
Spent over an hour and a half this morning removing soaked cardboard boxes from the cellar and putting the contents out on the deck to air out. Mostly Christmas items and books. I fear that many will end up in the trash bin. This is like moving again. That shower sure felt good after I cooled off. I had a pedestal fan running all night in basement, but the pools of water are still look like the same amount in the laundry room and the carpet is still squishy. I wear a mask when going down there. I have requests for water abatement with two local companies, but have not heard back from either. I am not totally surprised - they are probably backed up right now with requests and it's the weekend.

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Deb if it were me I wouldn't even attempt to keep those things in boxes.. they may dry out but they'll be damaged and they'll stink.. just take the lot and dump them, you have more important things to deal with now.. poor you, I feel sorry that you're having to do this alone.

Please listen to everyone's advice while you wait for help from those you've contacted.
 
A fan only moves moisture around. A dehumidifier removes the moisture. When I had a dehumidifier that required emptying, I was shocked at emptying a gallon every day or two, and that was from a dry basement that was closed off! Now, my dehumidifier empties into a drain.
 
Most of my neighbors needed a basement pump-out. Now assuming since all the houses on my street were likely built around the same time, they would have a similar sump system. What happened to their sumps?
 

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