Woke up this morning to a flooded basement

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by Anon-15281db623, Jan 8, 2008.

  1. Anon-15281db623

    Anon-15281db623 Anonymized

    We live at the top of a hill and have never had flooding before. But this morning I walk down stairs to hit the treadmill and I'm greeted by 2-3 inches of standing water! We're kind of at a loss as to what we should do. Gotta get in touch with the insurance company to see if we even have flood insurance, then take it from there I guess. Anyone know if we can use the water in the house? Like to take a shower? Or is that just adding to the problem. I don't know where the water would go since It's coming up though the drains down there.

    [​IMG]
     
  2. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    Jeez...sorry about that. That really sucks. It happened to us about 2 years ago. It was our water heater.

    What caused it? Our insurance covered the water heater damage, but when we had a bad storm as a result of a tornado, the water came in through the window wells and the insurance co considered it 'standing water' which they don't cover (&*%^ers).

    You don't have a sump pump or anything?

    Not sure about your shower water and stuff. It depends on what caused the flooding.
     
  3. augiedoggie

    augiedoggie The Canadian Loon - LocoAugie (R.I.P. 2012)

    If it's coming up the drains, then you may have a blockage or broken drain. Do you have a septic tank?
     
  4. Anon-15281db623

    Anon-15281db623 Anonymized

    No septic tank. We got about 2 or 3 inches of rain in a short period of time after a freak heatwave. 60's in January for the Midwest! We had a good deal of snow melt, and add all that water, and you got a flooded basement. We have a sump pump, but I don't think its working. The house is only five years old and I remember hearing it humming the last time we had rain. But its not making any noise as far as I can tell. The only way to check would be to wade though the water to get to it, but we have extension cords and power running down there across the floor so its basically a death trap. We might have to get the electric company over here to turn the power off at the meter before we can venture in there.
     
  5. N5638J

    N5638J Guest

    Thats why they made wet/dry shop vacs lol Thats why we got 2 of them. Sorry to hear it happen. Maybe they will cover it.
     
  6. theefool

    theefool Geekified

    My pool table feels bad for your pool table. :)
     
  7. augiedoggie

    augiedoggie The Canadian Loon - LocoAugie (R.I.P. 2012)

    Smart move on the electricity part of it, the sewers are probably overloaded then. I have two sump pumps, just in case, at the rental duplex as the water table is pretty high. Well, at least it's not sewage. I'm guessing you have a backflow valve to take care of that possible problem.
     
  8. dyamond

    dyamond Imelda Marcos of Majorgeeks

    The water is coming up through which drains? Your main drain? is it clogged? If so then taking a shower or flushing the toilet will cause back-up along your system. If your main drain is not clogged and the flood was due solely to rain and not your water heater you should be fine to use the water. It all depends on how your plumbing is set up everything leads out to the main drain outside, unless you have a septic system. As said before wet/dry vacs will clean up all that water and you should contact your insurance asap, they may ask you to get a few bids from plumbers/contractors to get estimates for the things have been water damaged that need to be repaired (i.e carpets).

    Our water heater exploded about a yr ago (at work). Its messy work.
     
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2008
  9. legalsuit

    legalsuit Legal Eagle

    OverCooked, looks bad...best to get expert advice...getting in touch with Insurance front up will at least let you know where you stand coverage wise and I expect their advice should provide guidance you need re actions. There should be an emergency service you can get on to for this too.

    Hope it's quickly and safely resolved!
     
  10. Anon-15281db623

    Anon-15281db623 Anonymized

    Found out the sump pump malfunctioned, so after shutting down the power, replacing that, and setting it all back up, we are now water free. Took about an hour for the pumps to suck it all out. It was all rain water seeping in from the ground where the sump pump is. Luckily we were able to salvage just about everything. We worked on it all day and have most of it cleaned up already. Thanks for everyone's concern, and guidance though this troubling moment for us. :)
     
  11. Natakel

    Natakel Guest

    Wow - sorry that happened to you. Glad you got it sorted out with not much damage or loss.

    I can relate to the rain. My basement had some heavy leakage that it's never had before, but it was nothing like what you had - although the sight of a stream of water burbling out of a concrete wall was pretty disconcerting. Looks like Indiana isn't outta the woods yet as far as rain goes - and flooding. Looks like it's pretty bad up north of Indy. Flood watches and warnings for pretty much the whole state.
     
  12. pclover

    pclover MajorGeek

    That sucks. That good to hear that there is not much damage or loss
     
  13. fatjake440

    fatjake440 Private E-2

    sorry bout ur luck happened to my uncle and it was horrible to clean. But good luck
     
  14. drighten

    drighten Private E-2

    This happened to me last fall. I missed two days work because of it, and bought three sump pumps. Turned out the piping from my sump pump was plugged up, so I had to run all new lines. Man, I don't wish this kind of thing on anybody. Luckily I managed to catch it before it ruined stuff, so not so bad except for two days pay and $250 on sump pumps and pipe. Now I have two spare sump pumps. My problems began at 2AM, so I spent the next seven hours hand bailing with a bucket in the sump hole. It was a long two days, till I got it fixed.
     
  15. jennmomof3

    jennmomof3 Private First Class

    I had a puddles in my basement yesterday. We have a wall that leaks when it rains hard. I'm in Northern Indiana, and we had close to 20 inches of snow last week, and summer storms this week! So with all the snow melting and rain......I had a mess to clean up! Hopefully it clears soon! Sun is shining right now! :D
     
  16. drighten

    drighten Private E-2


    Sounds like what you need to do is dig up that wall on the outside and put in new weeping tile. I had a crew do it two years ago, cost me $1300. No leaks since and the contractor guaranteed for ten years. You could do it yourself with a few friends on shovels for probably four or five hundred. Worth it if you own your home. If you rent, you might suggest it to your landlord.
     
  17. Anon-15281db623

    Anon-15281db623 Anonymized

    That's where I am too. With all that melted snow fresh in the ground, all that rain had no choice but to go into my basement. Hope things clear up for you. We're all cleaned up, it just smells like water. Yuck!

    Thanks to everyone else for your support and concern! Hope no one else has to go though this mess.
     
  18. jennmomof3

    jennmomof3 Private First Class

    We are looking into how much it will cost. We have bricks in the basement that are actually being pushing in, and we need to get that fixed. Yes we own this home, but not sure how long we'll be here. But it would help sell the house in a few years if we got it fixed!
     
  19. jennmomof3

    jennmomof3 Private First Class

    It doesn't sound like I had as much problems as some, however, everything is cleaned up now, and it still stinks down there! Yuck! Makes me not want to go do there to do laundry! lol
     
  20. mcadam

    mcadam Major Amnesia

    Sorry to hear that mate, bet thats a kick in the nuts.
     

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