Two weather notes. First, a note this morning from Kimber:
I am wondering if there have been other basements flooding in the area. I’ve been up all night trying to stay on top of the foot of water in my basement. Are others having the same problems? I live SW of the Junction on 38th south of the firehouse.
Second, the forecast – sun’s out now and today looks fairly calm, but more rain, with wind gusting up to 40 mph, is predicted by tomorrow night.
Kimber, we didn’t flood this year (yet!) but have flooded in years previous. After last time (it’s happened twice) I found a couple of small cracks in the basement concrete that I was able to fix with a concrete filler, and then I used a concrete sealer on the exposed concrete floors (after they flooded we pulled up the carpet!), paying particular attention to the spots where the floor and wall meet. We are quite hopeful that this has done the trick – the Home Depot guys were very enthusiastic about the products we bought. When you dry out, maybe it would help you, too?
Concrete is a very porous material, even without cracks. If you’ve got water outside with no place else to go, it will find its way into your basement. The biggest things you can do are to make sure your gutters are clear, make sure your downspouts drain several feet away from your house, and look at the grade of your yard to see that it slopes away from your house.
If you’ve got a foot of water in your basement, it sounds like you may have a clogged floor drain or sewer line, as well.
When we lived near SSCC, our basement flooded a few months after we moved in – on the same night the power went out. Turns out there were cracks in the concrete, ineffective gutters and a 60-year-old french drain just didn’t cut it. We ended up taking out a loan to repair all of the above, and since it involved breaking up part of the concrete floor anyway, we took the opportunity to install the drains/water lines for a downstairs bathroom (which we put in after we paid off the loan). Best money we ever spent on that house. I hope your problem isn’t as major, but it could be a blessing in disguise. Good luck!
I just read an article about insurance companies…. please, when you call them to report the damage, do not use the word “flood” unless you actually have specific flood insurance.
Homeowners and renters insurance should cover “standing water in a house” but not floods, which are extreme.
Of course any standing water seems extreme, but an insurance company will red flag any conversation about a flood and have a specialist follow up, if they determine that it is not up to extreme flood standards, they can choose to not honor the full amount of repair.
Different insurance companies will work in different ways, but please refrain from the word flood unless you have flood coverage.
Oops, did I say “flood”? I meant to say, “large volume of standing water”. My mistake!
Do other people’s home owner’s insurance cover water damage to a basement? When I called to inquire about coverage for our finished basement, I was told the only way water damage would be covered is if it was a true flood– other properties around us would have to have flooded. Even then, they would cover very little, only the structure and the major appliances in the basement.
Just curious because if other people have better policies that cover water damage, we would likely switch.
Unless truly in dire need, I would not call one’s insurance company with this. Flood is a five letter word, but mold is a four letter word.
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If you can, rent dehumdifiers/fans for the basement and dry it out as fast as possible.
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KBear’s comments are direct and to the point–large volumes of standing water in the basement are a symptom of a larger problem. Check the downspouts and see that all the gutters are draining away from the house or to the downspouts–I live in an area where the roof drains are conveniently connected to the sewer–not the best idea nowadays, but easier to deal with than yard drainage. You can check your “side sewer card” at the DPD electronically to determine if your roof drains connect to the sewer. I was just eyeing the leaves in my gutter since the last storm and thinking about cleaning them.
We had a similar problem many years ago and if we said the “flooding” was caused by cracks in the concrete we were not covered but if it was determined that it could have possibly been caused by a drain that had gotten clogged with leaves or debris then we were covered. We did notice some leaves in a drain so we assumed it must have been that. . . . .
I went through water backing up into my basement a number of years ago. It turned out to be disintegrating sewer line tiles between the house and the street. If your house is older, the sewer lines used in the 40’s were mostly concrete aggregate, I was told. They only last so long. Had to have mine replaced and that solved “most” of my basement water problems.
Start with the easy stuff like gutters and downspouts. Then consider moving water away from the house. It is fairly easy and cheap to dig a trench, lay a pipe, and cover it back up. My hard-working wife did just that on several downspouts.
Then if you still have a problem, contact a business that does this type of repair–plenty are in the plumbing section in Seattle–go figure…
But beware–any solution is likely to be pricey, take it from me.
To help keep water from overflowing rain gutters, beating down the foundation of homes, it is a wise idea to keep those rain gutters squeaky clean all year, especially when we know the rains are coming, then when we know the snows are coming.
How? you asked. I do it with my brand new rain gutter cleaning attachment that fastens to my wet/dry vac hose that literally vacuums out all debris, wet or dry, snow or sand, water, leaves, the whole nine yards. I can do this now while staying safely on the ground. No more ladders for me.
check out this tool I bought on-line at GutterClutterBuster.com and see if it will help you keep those rain gutter cleaner, faster, safer, and easier than ever before. I can, can you? Now I don’t worry about my foundation under my rain gutters getting damaged. Of course nothing but sand bags can hold back a flood. Been there, done that one too.
The key to preventing basement flooding is to keep the water away. We used to use sandbags but they are heavy and messy.
We found a product at our local Ace Hardware store called Hydrabarrier that is light weight and re-usable and works great as a replacement for sandbags. We will never go back to using sandbags again.
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