Wet basement , uggggg

[luberhill]

35 yrs and barley an issue , now with 3.6” of rain the other day I have water seepage and spent hours shop vaccuming it up.

We don’t have a sump pump or a crock  now it’s raining again pretty hard .

I just got it dried up !

How the hell do people deal with this ?

I really want to move someplace on a hill or to a place without a basement ,

[Zag]

I hear ya, we had a pee hole between 2 blocks the other day pissing water on the floor. Judging by Twitter it’s getting crappy in Ontario and Yates county with flooding starting.

Edited October 30, 2021 by Zag

[Nomad]

23 minutes ago, luberhill said:

35 yrs and barley an issue , now with 3.6” of rain the other day I have water seepage and spent hours shop vaccuming it up.

We don’t have a sump pump or a crock  now it’s raining again pretty hard .

I just got it dried up !

How the hell do people deal with this ?

I really want to move someplace on a hill or to a place without a basement ,

Ya I feel your pain ,but I’ve been on hundreds of “ water problems “ and had a few of my own . Once in 35 years and something handled by a shop vac would be a blessing for most .

 

 

 

[wolc123]

I have had my share of trouble with that, with several sump pump failures, resulting in an inch or two over the whole basement floor, and about 4 ft of water during the legendary October storm that hit WNY more than 10 years ago.  
 

I was out of town for work when that storm hit.  It closed the Buffalo airport, so I flew into Rochester and rented a car there for the drive home.   The power was out when I got home.  I was so tired, when I finally got home around 4:00, that I didn’t even bother looking into the badement, but went right to bed. 
 

That turned out to be a big mistake.  I only did that because I thought I could depend on the water backup sump pump that I had installed a few weeks prior.  Little did I know, that the storm was so widespread, that the main water pumping station on Lake Erie was also without power, so there was not adequate city water pressure to power my water backup pump.  
 

The 10 psi or so trickle, that flowed into our house from the 3/4” feed pipe, was not enough to power the pump.  It merely added to the rising flood in the basement.  By the time I looked down there, around 9:00 am, the water was 3 feet high and rising.  
 

My dad lives about a half hour to the East, where they still had power and he had a generator.  My brother brought that over and we stemmed the tide at about 4 ft.  
 

My two gas furnaces and hot water heater, were extinguished, and my freezer was half submerged (fortunately the only meat lost was some fish, because I had not yet started filling it with deer meat). 

Our power remained out almost a week, but I was able to keep the basement dry with that generator and my submersible sump pump.  Surprisingly, when we cleaned everything up and dried things out, both furnaces still worked, as did the hot water heater and freezer.

 I had a bunch of rifle ammo that spent more than 4 hours under water, but there were no misfires from any of that after.  
Our basement was unfinished at the time, so our only real losses were about 8 quart freezer packages of fish and a chicken or two.

The steps I have taken, to largely correct my basement water problems, are: 

1) Purchased the best submersible ac powered sump pump that out local Home Depot carries. 

2) plumb that pump such that the water is drained far away from the house.

3)purchased an 8 hp  portable generator.

4)have a cheap, ac powered pedestal-style sump pump set up and ready for installation if my primary pump fails. I have replaced my primary 3 times under warranty with the backup handling the load when I went to Home Depot for my free replacement.  

I keep the box with the receipt on a shelf high up in the basement.  I think they are down to a 5 year warranty now, but they usually fail between 3 and 4 years.  The cashiers at the Home Depot service desk in Lockport have always been very cooperative, when I pick up my new pump.  It is usually the float switch that fails.

5) get rid of the water backup and dc backup sump pumps that have not performed worth a crap in my application.

6) keep the sump pit clean and listen for pump operation when it rains.

7) don’t store anything that could be damaged by an inch or two of water on the basement floor.

 

 

 

Edited October 30, 2021 by wolc123

[luberhill]

25 minutes ago, wolc123 said:

I have had my share of trouble with that, with several sump pump failures, resulting in an inch or two over the whole basement floor, and about 4 ft of water during the legendary October storm that hit WNY more than 10 years ago.  
 

I was out of town for work when that storm hit.  It closed the Buffalo airport, so I flew into Rochester and rented a car there for the drive home.   The power was out when I got home.  I was so tired, when I finally got home around 4:00, that I didn’t even bother looking into the badement, but went right to bed. 
 

That turned out to be a big mistake.  I only did that because I thought I could depend on the water backup sump pump that I had installed a few weeks prior.  Little did I know, that the storm was so widespread, that the main water pumping station on Lake Erie was also without power, so there was not adequate city water pressure to power my water backup pump.  
 

The 10 psi or so trickle, that flowed into our house from the 3/4” feed pipe, was not enough to power the pump.  It merely added to the rising flood in the basement.  By the time I looked down there, around 9:00 am, the water was 3 feet high and rising.  
 

My dad lives about a half hour to the East, where they still had power and he had a generator.  My brother brought that over and we stemmed the tide at about 4 ft.  
 

My two gas furnaces and hot water heater, were extinguished, and my freezer was half submerged (fortunately the only meat lost was some fish, because I had not yet started filling it with deer meat). 

Our power remained out almost a week, but I was able to keep the basement dry with that generator and my submersible sump pump.  Surprisingly, when we cleaned everything up and dried things out, both furnaces still worked, as did the hot water heater and freezer.

 I had a bunch of rifle ammo that spent more than 4 hours under water, but there were no misfires from any of that after.  
Our basement was unfinished at the time, so our only real losses were about 8 quart freezer packages of fish and a chicken or two.

The steps I have taken, to largely correct my basement water problems, are: 

1) Purchased the best submersible ac powered sump pump that out local Home Depot carries. 

2) plumb that pump such that the water is drained far away from the house.

3)purchased an 8 hp  portable generator.

4)have a cheap, ac powered pedestal-style sump pump set up and ready for installation if my primary pump fails. I have replaced my primary 3 times under warranty with the backup handling the load when I went to Home Depot for my free replacement.  

I keep the box with the receipt on a shelf high up in the basement.  I think they are down to a 5 year warranty now, but they usually fail between 3 and 4 years.  The cashiers at the Home Depot service desk in Lockport have always been very cooperative, when I pick up my new pump.  It is usually the float switch that fails.

5) get rid of the water backup and dc backup sump pumps that have not performed worth a crap in my application.

6) keep the sump pit clean and listen for pump operation when it rains.

7) don’t store anything that could be damaged by an inch or two of water on the basement floor.

 

 

 

Ouch

we don’t have a cock but I have a utility pump set on the lowest spot and it’s automatic .

I also have a WiFi water alarm set on the lowest spot.

And wireless thermostats on freezer and fridge.

I have a portable generator and hook up to run the whole house.

And a 16 gallon shop vac

My utility pump has a short hose that I put into the sump for my pump up basement shower. 
That goes right into the soil pipe

[wolc123]

In the 15 or so years I have had that generator, I only used it once or twice for power outages, that lasted more than 4 hours.  
 

I run one extension cord to the sump pump, one to the freezer, and another to the house for a light and the tv to keep the kids entertained.  
 

I keep the generator maintained with an annual oil change and use it a few times each summer to power a weed whipper, at the far edges of our lawn, or for a circular saw, air compressor, and drills for tree stand service.  I hate battery operated tools.  I also keep the gas tank topped off with relatively fresh, stabilized ethanol-free stuff.

I need to keep the gas tank shutoff valve closed on that generator’s engine or it back feeds thru into the crankcase.  It always starts  on the first or second pull

Edited October 30, 2021 by wolc123

[luberhill]

2 minutes ago, wolc123 said:

In the 15 or so years I have had that generator, I only used it once or twice for power outages, that lasted more than 4 hours.  
 

I run one extension cord to the sump pump, one to the freezer, and another to the house for a light and the tv to keep the kids entertained.  
 

I keep the generator maintained and use it a few times each summer to power a weed whipper, at the far edges of our lawn, or for a circular saw, air compressor, and drills for tree stand service.  I hate battery operated tools.  I also keep the gas tanked topped off with relatively fresh, stabilized ethanol-free stuff.

Yea my generator is a wheeL around and I too keep it full and stabilized !

I also haven’t used it much but when I did it was for a day or so.

I just dropped a 220 outlet out of my panel , shut off the main , back feed the entire house .

It runs the furnace , central ac , fridges , lights etc

[Nytracker]

Never had more than a few towels couldn't take care of in the basement . I have worked on everything I can think of to mitigate water around the house . I live in a low area with a creek in my back yard.  Bridge was replaced a few years ago and ever since we have had flooding in the back yard.  County has been out to dredge the creek bed 4 times and it just fills back in . Fortunately  when the house was built the lot was back filled raising the house foot print 6 feet . Water has been as close as 20 feet to the house . We are now 8 plus inches over our annual yearly total for rain in Chemung county . Far cry from the drought we had last year.

[Northcountryman]

10 hours ago, luberhill said:

35 yrs and barley an issue , now with 3.6” of rain the other day I have water seepage and spent hours shop vaccuming it up.

We don’t have a sump pump or a crock  now it’s raining again pretty hard .

I just got it dried up !

How the hell do people deal with this ?

I really want to move someplace on a hill or to a place without a basement ,

Same here man- I feel ya.  I just came upstairs after shampooing rug downstairs to get the musty smell out- sucks.

[Moho81]

I probably should have checked mine this morning before leaving to hunt for the weekend but didn’t think about it. Oh well.


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[luberhill]

2 hours ago, Moho81 said:

I probably should have checked mine this morning before leaving to hunt for the weekend but didn’t think about it. Oh well.


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I’m there now , it’s dry

[Moho81]

I’m there now , it’s dry

Great thanks! While your there, can you spruce up the downstairs bathroom for me please. Thanks.


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[46rkl]

My basement flood was a month ago. The day after returning from a trip out on the Olympic Peninsula. For some reason the outlet the sump pump was on failed. The Venturi backup couldn’t handle the volume and the water level alarm went to my phone but after a tough travel home I never woke up to it. Half the basement is finished so there was a lot of loss there but also on the storage side as I had gotten careless over the years and left too many boxes sitting on the floor. Long cleanup but got it all up and functioning again. One week ago today, a supply line to a first floor bathroom sink split and, of course, the water drained down into the basement. Luckily only on the storage side.  Everything vulnerable was off the floor and on a shelf. Too bad the water came from above. Another round of cleanup and throw out followed. 
And finally, last nights rain caused my chimney to leak and the bottom of the driveway flooded all the way across the road and into my neighbors house. 
Just can’t win against water. Sitting in a tree stand in a light drizzle this morning was just one more little slap from the water gods. 

[luberhill]

1 hour ago, Moho81 said:

Great thanks! While your there, can you spruce up the downstairs bathroom for me please. Thanks.


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I’m staying away from that

[luberhill]

2 minutes ago, 46rkl said:

My basement flood was a month ago. The day after returning from a trip out on the Olympic Peninsula. For some reason the outlet the sump pump was on failed. The Venturi backup couldn’t handle the volume and the water level alarm went to my phone but after a tough travel home I never woke up to it. Half the basement is finished so there was a lot of loss there but also on the storage side as I had gotten careless over the years and left too many boxes sitting on the floor. Long cleanup but got it all up and functioning again. One week ago today, a supply line to a first floor bathroom sink split and, of course, the water drained down into the basement. Luckily only on the storage side.  Everything vulnerable was off the floor and on a shelf. Too bad the water came from above. Another round of cleanup and throw out followed. 
And finally, last nights rain caused my chimney to leak and the bottom of the driveway flooded all the way across the road and into my neighbors house. 
Just can’t win against water. Sitting in a tree stand in a light drizzle this morning was just one more little slap from the water gods. 

Oh man … I fricken hate rain 

[fasteddie]

One of our members was with a Fire Department . Not sure who it is / was . Anyway he had discussed people having house fires from feeding electricity back into the house from a portable generator . Be careful doing that  .

[luberhill]

15 minutes ago, fasteddie said:

One of our members was with a Fire Department . Not sure who it is / was . Anyway he had discussed people having house fires from feeding electricity back into the house from a portable generator . Be careful doing that  .

What ??

Never heard off that before .

Ive done it for years …never an issue . It’s still going thru the panel , no different than incoming power ???

Brother was a fireman and electrician and his set up is the same .

Shutting off the main isolates the power to the buss bars and thru the breakers

Cant imagine any way it could start a fire 

[New York Hillbilly]

I'm with you guys! Rain, water, flooding, wet basements, sump pumps, etc.....sucks!!! 

[fasteddie]

2 hours ago, luberhill said:

What ??

Never heard off that before .

Ive done it for years …never an issue . It’s still going thru the panel , no different than incoming power ???

Brother was a fireman and electrician and his set up is the same .

Shutting off the main isolates the power to the buss bars and thru the breakers

Cant imagine any way it could start a fire 

Didn't want to derail the thread but , since you are so knowledgeable and I am not , I thought I would respond . One of our members ,who is a Fire Fighter brought up the topic a couple years ago . He specifically talked about back feeding a generator into a home panel box . It can be done safely IF THE PERSON KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING . Too many don't know . Since the Fire Fighter hasn't responded I found this link .

http://www.experts123.com/a/the-dangers-of-back-feeding.html

[luberhill]

2 hours ago, fasteddie said:

Didn't want to derail the thread but , since you are so knowledgeable and I am not , I thought I would respond . One of our members ,who is a Fire Fighter brought up the topic a couple years ago . He specifically talked about back feeding a generator into a home panel box . It can be done safely IF THE PERSON KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING . Too many don't know . Since the Fire Fighter hasn't responded I found this link .

http://www.experts123.com/a/the-dangers-of-back-feeding.html

Well I understand it’s not the correct way to do it but .. as far as back feeding to the transformer , if you forget to shut the main off the generator dies right down trying to feed that line.

Also , the article is misleading , modern generators have circuit breakers of there own .

If you load them too much , the engine dies right down and the breaker will trip long before the cord running to the panel starts on fire .

I have a 10 gage 4 wire Ext cord , generator cord are always outdoors.

Its no different then if I had a transfer switch ..

Turning off the main is always the first and last thing do and check before starting the generator 

 

[doebuck1234]

A reminder to check those pumps/basements!!!!!!have some water in spots I usually don't this year.time to break out the Crack sealant when it dries up!!!!!!

[luberhill]

49 minutes ago, doebuck1234 said:

A reminder to check those pumps/basements!!!!!!have some water in spots I usually don't this year.time to break out the Crack sealant when it dries up!!!!!!

Where u at ?

I got a couple spots too ,,, damm

I didn’t think we had that much rain,

Im getting to the point of renting or leasing a townhouse or something 

I’m getting older and don’t want to deal with any issues , maintenance etc 

 

[doebuck1234]

Western,ny.monroe County

With the warm up/rain it got things a flowin!

[luberhill]

30 minutes ago, doebuck1234 said:

Western,ny.monroe County

With the warm up/rain it got things a flowin!

I’m so tired of dealing with homeowner issues 

[mlammerhirt]

I’m so tired of dealing with homeowner issues 

The so called American Dream is to be a home onwer.....fung that......the headaches never end!

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