Calling All Handymen
This week we had our first true homeowner surprise. On Wednesday afternoon, my wife phoned me from our basement where she was sloshing around in about 3 inches of water. We have two sump pumps down there, and apparently one failed. Only one room in our basement is finished, and that had the most water. So we spent most of Wednesday evening with brooms getting the water from that room to the other room way in the back where the functioning sump pump was.
Yesterday I spent the day cleaning out. Fortunately I had just cleaned the basement, and most of the stuff in the other rooms -- my precious power tools -- were well off the ground. This weekend I will be spending with a mop and some bleach. And of course the plumber will have to replace the pump (I could actually put it in, but I don't have the expertise to know what system is best for me).
I have to say I feel about my flooded basement the way other some people once felt about having a handicap or genetic disease: that the flood is somehow an indictment of me. How do you check a sump pump anyway if it is working? I'm also having issues with a new dehumidifier I bought which is running but producing no water. Any flood experts out there?
And Peter, I could have used you on the bucket brigade.
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Re: Calling All Handymen
You're perfectly correct, Bill: that flood was an indictment of you.
My story of flooding?
When we moved into our present house, we paid no attention to the empty little ornamental pool in the backyard, thinking, a) that one former owner or another had installed a tiny koi pond, koi having been a fad out here some years ago, and, b) that sooner or later we'd get around to filling in the pool and planting grass on top.
Then came the first winter storm--and, out here, storms take the form not of snow but of rain. Within 24 hours, water had filled the pool, then buried the yard, then crept to within a quarter of an inch of the kitchen door--and the rains, they kept a-rainin'. My wife called the lady from whom we had bought the place. Had she ever had any trouble with flooding? "Why yes, dear," the lady replied. "That's what the ornamental pool is for. You need to put a sump pump in the pool, connect a hose, and pump the water out of there. And if I were you, I'd hurry."
Oct '10
Re: Calling All Handymen
Have had something similar happen to me twice in the past 2 years - once because the sump failed (unbeknownst to me) and once because we lost power for 5 days. I now have a generator and had a 2nd (and deeper) sump pump installed.
Which is meaningless info for your problem, but I had to vent (was that even venting?).
You can install (or have installed) an alarm or alarms in the basement that are water alarms. They alert you at the first sign of water infiltration, presumably long before it reaches 3", and they may even be programmable to send you an email or text (for when you're not home).
You may want to check into this. It could save you from being a two-timer like I.
Re: Calling All Handymen
Yes, I've learned a lot about the mechanics of water in the last 48 hours. Now have a submergable auxiliary pump where failed sump pump is, hooked up to a garden hose that drips the water at the other end into the working sump pump.
My 7 year old, of course, thought it was all a blast. She was down there in her boots enjoying herself as she pushed the water.
Jun '10
Re: Calling All Handymen
Bill McGurn: Yes, I've learned a lot about the mechanics of water in the last 48 hours. Now have a submergable auxiliary pump where failed sump pump is, hooked up to a garden hose that drips the water at the other end into the working sump pump.
My 7 year old, of course, thought it was all a blast. She was down there in her boots enjoying herself as she pushed the water. · Dec 3 at 10:58am
You're apparently past the danger but standing water in a basement can be "live" electrically if the water comes in contact with the wiring, especially 220 volt circuits like dryers and stoves.
Oct '10
Re: Calling All Handymen
The dehumidifier is a must. If you can't troubleshoot it, return it and get another one ASAP.
May '10
Re: Calling All Handymen
My first sump experience was in 1978, and I spent almost 20 years trying to resolve one problem after another. I have had bad sump pumps, pumps that tipped over, blocking the float lever arm, broken outlet hoses, you name it. Once I though the sump was screwed up, only to find that the stationary utility tub water line had popped off.
We finally got it all sorted out about 3 years ago, and thankfully nothing bad since (fortunately, the water was always on the unfinished side of thew basement, far away from real floors).
Fortunately, we had the basement built with an extra course of block, so it is 9 feet high ceiling to floor. The finished side is elevated on redwood base, with water-proof insulation, and the entire area is sealed off so that even 2 inches of standing water doesn't get over to that side.
But, Bill, everything you are doing now, I have done at least twice, and it took me 20 years to figure it out.
Re: Calling All Handymen
Duane,
You're killing me!
20 years!
Oct '10
Re: Calling All Handymen
A good rule of thumb is, if it needs a sump pump, you don't need it. Just like a safety on a gun, they will eventually fail.
Jun '10
Re: Calling All Handymen
Bill, you should rent yourself a bobcat and a dozer and dig some drainage ditches around the foundation of the house, re-slope the dirt so water drains away from the house and make sure you drink a beer while doing it.
Let's move some dirt!
Jun '10
Re: Calling All Handymen
Samwise Gamgee: Bill, you should rent yourself a bobcat and a dozer and dig some drainage ditches around the foundation of the house, re-slope the dirt so water drains away from the house and make sure you drink a beer while doing it.
Let's move some dirt! · Dec 3 at 3:08pm
Samwise has it right. You don't need a sump pump in most places in this country if the builder provided for proper excavation and grading when the house was built. Do it right; move some dirt.
Aug '10
Re: Calling All Handymen
Bill McGurn:
My 7 year old, of course, thought it was all a blast. She was down there in her boots enjoying herself as she pushed the water. · Dec 3 at 10:58am
Our neighbors had this big fancy house with a huge basement that flooded -- and when it did, their kids would invite us over (I'm not sure they had their parents' permission) to play ocean explorers. We'd paddle around on furniture rafts...
It never occurred to us what headaches the parents must have been having.
May '10
Re: Calling All Handymen
It sounds like you may have solved the problem, but I have dealt with submergable pumps. If it's a float activated system, it can be tested periodically by finding the float and lifting it to activate the pump. That will give you some piece of mind that it will work. You could also fill the hole with a few buckets of water at the periodically to make sure it works.
The pump I've dealt with has two float arms, one activates the pump, and the second float activates an audible alarm if the water gets above the pump activator float. But this is a 2000 gallon grease pit, so we have time to react to the pump alarm. In your case, the alarm float would just tell you that your basement is flooding. That won't help!
Good luck
May '10
Re: Calling All Handymen
Bill McGurn: Duane,
You're killing me!
20 years! · Dec 3 at 1:44pm
We re-did the drain tile, and added some other drainage for the damp but non-percolating clay subsurface. Dry as an Ezekiel bone now- the sump pump came on only twice in the last couple of years.
There is always a way to deal with it, but I shudder to think how they did this stuff without reliable electricity.