Is Your Basement Dry?

[Sea Ray]

How are your basements doing these days? My sump pump is working like crazy but so far it's held up. Unfortunately the other side of the basement sprung a couple leaks on Saturday and now I'm dealing with that. I patched those pots and it's been dry since but I'm not looking forward to more rain. I'm still trying to dry out the carpet from Saturday. My foundation guy suggested installing a 2nd sump pump at a cost of $2K. I'm not ready to jump at that. I'm thinking that this is a historical wet period we're in right now and it's stessing all kinds of things.

You all probably already know that we're into the wettest April on record but you might not know that we're headed towards the wettest month ever on record and that was March in 1937 when we got 13". Of course that was the yr we had the great flood. The Ohio River reached Third St and went to 80 ft. I don't think we'll ever see another crest that high due to the dam system now in place but wow is it wet!

[gonelong]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

How are your basements doing these days? My sump pump is working like crazy but so far it's held up. Unfortunately the other side of the basement sprung a couple leaks on Saturday and now I'm dealing with that. I patched those pots and it's been dry since but I'm not looking forward to more rain. I'm still trying to dry out the carpet from Saturday. My foundation guy suggested installing a 2nd sump pump at a cost of $2K. I'm not ready to jump at that. I'm thinking that this is a historical wet period we're in right now and it's stessing all kinds of things.

You all probably already know that we're into the wettest April on record but you might not know that we're headed towards the wettest month ever on record and that was March in 1937 when we got 13". Of course that was the yr we had the great flood. The Ohio River reached Third St and went to 80 ft. I don't think we'll ever see another crest that high due to the dam system now in place but wow is it wet!

If your sump pump is working that hard, I'd recommend having another one on hand and ready to go, especially if it generally runs pretty often and it's 3-5 years old already.

My neighbor was in this situation. He bought a second pump and then a hose long enough to reach outside his basement window. When his sump pump worked that hard, he'd just drop the 2nd one in and assist his first pump in pushing water out. It came in handy when his first pump went belly up. He was able to drop in the 2nd one he had and then run to the store for a replacement. It saved him a flooded basement and alot of headaches.

I personally have a watchdog battery backup and I like it quite well. Good peace of mind for relatively minor cost.

If you are springing leaks, there is a chance your pump is keeping up with what is in the sump pit, but is the water is still pooling outside the walls. Not good.

GL

[westofyou]

Yep, mine is this week.

110 year old house and Portland rain means we have small leaks a few times a year when the gutters overflow or are kicked away from their placement and the foundation takes on the excess through some tiny cracks.

Earlier this year my kitchen sink blew a pipe in the middle of the night, woke up at 4 am and heard water, my basement was in about 3 inches of water. Lucky for me I have a floor drain, I just swept the water towards that for 2 hours.

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by gonelong

I personally have a watchdog battery backup and I like it quite well. Good peace of mind for relatively minor cost.


GL

Yeah, I have one of those too. I just don't if it works because luckily it's never been needed. How often do you replace those batteries? I have a marine battery on it

[gonelong]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

Yeah, I have one of those too. I just don't if it works because luckily it's never been needed. How often do you replace those batteries? I have a marine battery on it

I also have a marine battery on mine, I replace mine every 2 years and then move that battery into my boat (still has some life in it).

I will usually run my battery backup once if I notice the sump-pump running fairly frequently.

GL

[PickOff]

I'm happy to report that mine has been so far here in the DC area. When we bought our home, it rained the first few days and we found that our basement leaked. Not too much, but enough to cause concern. Had a guy come in and try to sell us a $12,000 solution. I opted to regrade around the house and send the rainwater further away from the gutters. So far we have not had another drop since we completed the grading. It has been a wet March and April - but not as wet as Ohio - I keep my fingers crossed.