Oh look at that.... 4" of standing water in my finished Basement

[redneckmedic]

Came home from work this AM and my wife met me at the door in tears...

Appearently sometime between 3am (baby's last feeding) and 7am the sump pump took a dump and the battery back up couldn't keep up with our record rainfall yesterday.

No real loss, some family photos, I've been meaning to digitize for about 7yrs, some of my boxing equipment, some hand tools, and my Alpine Bow

Time to by a water alarm.

Folks if you have a basement this can't be preached enough, keep the pumps squared away.

This guy kinda reminds me of the sham wow tool, but a good product.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o9o-7673hA

 

[Que]

RNM, I'm sorry to hear about that. Let me know if you need any help cleaning things up. I'm available tomorrow and can come out for a few hours.

 

[ATF Consumer]

Had this happen during the last big rain...mine was 5".

What was really strange is we had several plugged in powerstrips laying on the ground that still had live power running...nothing shorted out.

My sump pump floater stuck down, rendering it useless during the night of rain. I had my two cats crying on the steps, wanting to come up stairs.

I was told that the water must not have had many impurities in it or breakers would have popped off.

 

[eldirector]

Ouch. That sucks. The basement at my parent's old place flooded every year. Dead pumps, blocked pipes, power outages, etc.... Always something!

We kept a main pump running with a battery-backup pump above it. Then, a second "cold standby" pump on the floor next to it, ready to go into the hole. Changing a pump is 2' of cold water (down in a 2' deep hole) is loads of fun!

We came darn close yesterday. The street flooded 1/2 way up our (slightly sloped) front yard, and the crawlspace sump pump was running every few minutes.

If it is a finished basement, make sure it gets 100% dry! Once the mold starts, it is nearly impossible to get rid of.

 

[E5RANGER375]

sorry to hear this. mine is flooded too, the whole basement I dont even know what all is ruined yet. its gonna be expensive. Im pissed to say the least. and I have pneumonia and a cracked rib.

 

[redneckmedic]

RNM, I'm sorry to hear about that. Let me know if you need any help cleaning things up. I'm available tomorrow and can come out for a few hours.

Thanks Que, your good people! I have a separate submersible pump that I tied into the sump discharge and was able to pump out all the water in about an hour. The basement is my daughters playroom and almost everything in there is elevated or hard plastic, so a box knife, tarp, and a dab a bleach should do it. Brother in law stopping by in a bit to help. I'll humbly pass on the offer and won't take a rain check

Had this happen during the last big rain...mine was 5".

What was really strange is we had several plugged in powerstrips laying on the ground that still had live power running...nothing shorted out.

That is exactly what happened to me!!!

My sump pump floater stuck down, rendering it useless during the night of rain.

That is exactly what happened to me!!!

 

[ATF Consumer]

Thanks Que, your good people! I have a separate submersible pump that I tied into the sump discharge and was able to pump out all the water in about an hour. The basement is my daughters playroom and almost everything in there is elevated or hard plastic, so a box knife, tarp, and a dab a bleach should do it. Brother in law stopping by in a bit to help. I'll humbly pass on the offer and won't take a rain check

I was told to get my GFCI protected outlet wiring checked.

 

[prowland]

Sorry for your problems... my parents house would do this every few years. Hope you have flood insurance!

 

[revsaxon]

This happened to my mom a few years ago. Crack in the line in her subpump meant that all the water was getting ejected into the basement too. I had happened to be visiting her at the time and walked into a basement with a foot and a half of water in it. Good luck getting it cleaned up, in her case it had gotten into the insulation and the entire basement had to be gutted...

 

[Don]

You weren't kidding about record rainfall. My street flooded up and so did the entrance to the other subdivision on the other side. Nothing like having to drive thru 8" + of mud water and corn stalks to get my nephew from school yesterday. Then on my way to walmart the intersection at apple and blue there was more mud and corn stalk water in the road. Needless to say I'm sick of the rain already.

 

[hornadylnl]

I don't know how much rain we got near Lafayette but our power was out for about 8-9 hours. I'm thinking my 1100' of field tile tied into my sump pump system was a really good investment. I checked my basement just now and it's dry.

 

[abrewer15]

My house suffered the same pitfall. This is a pain that I never want to experience again

 

[d1wil]

Sorry to hear about your trouble's,i lucked out this time but iv'e had it in the past.

 

[Scutter01]

A bad sump pump coupled with a lack of a check valve resulted in four inches of standing water in my finished basement and ended up changing my life completely. I am not exaggerating.

 

[Sailor]

I don't know how much rain we got near Lafayette but our power was out for about 8-9 hours. I'm thinking my 1100' of field tile tied into my sump pump system was a really good investment. I checked my basement just now and it's dry.

Smart, it would take a lot of water to fill that much 4" pipe. You just ran it back and forth in the yard?

My back up pump alarms when it kicks in, but I also have a water bug as an extra alarm. My pump never runs anymore since I fixed the break on the exit just outside my foundation.

 

[Rayne]

A bad sump pump coupled with a lack of a check valve resulted in four inches of standing water in my finished basement and ended up changing my life completely. I am not exaggerating.

You going to leave us hanging like that? Details, please.

@RNM; If you have carpet in the basement, after it is dried make sure you have it cleaned and treated with microbiotics. This will keep any molds and other micros from growing in your carpet.

 

[Scutter01]

You going to leave us hanging like that? Details, please.

Yes, I'm going to leave you hanging completely. My point was that just because it seems like bad news doesn't necessarily make it bad. You never know what'll come out of it.

 

[Rayne]

Yes, I'm going to leave you hanging completely. My point was that just because it seems like bad news doesn't necessarily make it bad. You never know what'll come out of it.

Ah Man!!! Does your wife know you're such a big tease???

 

[Scutter01]

Ah Man!!! Does your wife know you're such a big tease???

She likes it that way.

 

[hornadylnl]

Smart, it would take a lot of water to fill that much 4" pipe. You just ran it back and forth in the yard?

My back up pump alarms when it kicks in, but I also have a water bug as an extra alarm. My pump never runs anymore since I fixed the break on the exit just outside my foundation.

It runs into another field tile that dumps into a creek a half mile away. I had a check valve installed as well. I had 33" of water in my basement last year while it was being built. We had a horrendous monsoon but most of the water was due to the foundation not being backfilled yet.