Need Help, no rush - my first post ever!

[ejcjmh]

Need to ask questions about keeping the basement dry this summer.  Gutters are clean out, and drains away from the house. Screens on top of them. The down spouts do not go in the ground like I see on others. I have parking strips on one side of the house, and was going to have the concrete removed, and tilted away from the foundation on the right side of the house, and the rear of the house foir they are cracked. Not sure who to start asking.  I am open to any suggestions.  The basement is finished with indoor/outdoor carpet, no padding.  We use the basement as the master bedroom, for there is a full bath, laundry and two other rooms.

We have lived here for 3 years and we are the 24th block of Euclid. Thanks for you advice ...John and Ed.

[J'sMom]

First we need to figure out where the water is coming from. Have you experienced seepage through the walls and floor or back up from the sewer drain(s)?

[mcsullivan]

2 years ago we had some trouble with water coming into the basement on the north side of the house.   We made some changes that seem to help.

1) If your gutters drain away from the house, make sure they drain far away from the house.
2)  We (really my husband) added several bags of dirt on the north side of the house and sloped the dirt away from the house.   He also placed several paving stones along the north side of the house where we thought the actual issue was, so that the water would run off.

We did get two basement sealer compainies to come out.  Their estimates were around $5K to waterproof the basement, but neither company was able to actually diagnose what was wrong and neither company was able to guarantee that our basement would be dry if we used their services.

Hope that helps.

[watcher]

Need to ask questions about keeping the basement dry this summer.  Gutters are clean out, and drains away from the house. Screens on top of them. The down spouts do not go in the ground like I see on others. I have parking strips on one side of the house, and was going to have the concrete removed, and tilted away from the foundation on the right side of the house, and the rear of the house foir they are cracked. Not sure who to start asking.  I am open to any suggestions.  The basement is finished with indoor/outdoor carpet, no padding.  We use the basement as the master bedroom, for there is a full bath, laundry and two other rooms.

We have lived here for 3 years and we are the 24th block of Euclid. Thanks for you advice ...John and Ed.

You didn't say what kind of water you had two years ago. Was it ground water or sewer water? Did it come up through the drains or through the floor and walls?

the key to not getting ground water in your basement is to make sure everything outside is moving water AWAY from your foundation. The further away the better. That means beyond just the gutters, you must grade all four sides of the house so that water runs away from the foundation.
You must also address any cracks or breaks in the foundation floor and walls.

If it's sewer water, it's a whole different approach. You must have a clear and rodded main drain line, a cleaned and functional catch basin (if so equipped). You should also get to know your street's sewers. How deep are they? Do they work properly?
installing one way valving in your main drain can prevent back-ups, but it must also be cleared and cleaned regularly. You can install standpipes or stop valves in floor drains, but since you have a full bath in the basement, the one way gate valve in the main line would be the way to go. (Understanding that when that valve closes due to back-up in the sewers, you will not be able to get your drains to empty normally)

Good luck.

[ejcjmh]

Hello - it is ground water, and it in different areas at different times.  The most recent was several months ago.  Remember when we still had snow and ice on the ground, then it rained real hard with warm temps one night.  That was the worst it has happened.  I would say that it was a good 6 by 9 area that got "wet". Nothing that a small shop vac and some box fans for a few days to dry out. It was in the back of the house, and we have concrete (that is cracked) up next to the house in the rear, and one the south side "driveway".

[berwynson]

Ah! Years and years ago, hardly ANY bungalow did not experience back-up of street drains when heavy rains occurred. The neighbors who claimed they had "not a drop", when ours on 18th. & Harvey was floating, could be seen dragging out ruined boxes & stuff, after it got dark!

Numerous products were sold everywhere guaranteed to "seal" the basement floors. Some folks sealed their floor drains, and their floors buckled upwards! Buckled concrete = nasty sight! Once or twice, the back-up actually rose to the tops of our "standpipes", which screwed into the floor drains, and ran over. The pipes were about 3 feet high. The absolute worst storm I recall put 2 feet of water in our basement.

Not heartening news for the thread, I'm sorry to say. But, word has it, street drains were over the years made larger, which supposedly helped. The crux of the problem was (and likely still is), that the old, clay-tile type drains which carried wastewater out of the house and to the street sewers, leaked badly at their joints, with the result that the entire soil structure beneath the basement floor became saturated with back-up water, from the street, after heavy rains.

We had heard of only one dead-certain way to stop the back-up flooding: Install a shut-off valve in the sewer line to the street, out in front of the house, accessible by long tool, from the grass above, kind of like the "buffalo-box" out front where city water to the house could be shut off.

I slept in the basement in summer, the last number of years in Berwyn, and it WAS cooler there, dank, damp, though, and watch OUT for those bastardish centipedes which came out at night!    berwynson

[berwyn senator]

No water bugs?

[berwynson]

No water bugs?

Nah. They all left with those 2 young guys who imbibed down there, after which the neighbor's leaky basement window frames allowed minor flooding of HIS basement.......

berwynson