Our house was built in 1959. Half of it is concrete with a drain around the edge and the other half is like 2 feet higher but dirt. When it rains are basement fills up high. I mean knee high! Literally. We have 3 sump pumps but that only pumps the water out, (and they hardly do that!) I want to know if there is anything eles to do beause it is really becoming a problem! Please Help Me!
2007-01-10 01:57:55 · 9 answers · asked by Shawna F 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
The problem is hydrostatic pressure. When it rains the water builds up around your home and gravity pulls the water down. The water then follows the path of least resistance into your basement. The pressure of the water is constant and since your home has a basement it is below the ground level. This causes the water to try to lift up your home. The easiest way for the water to come in is from the unfinished area. If you were to excavate this area to be the same level as the finished space and cement it that would help but probaly would not fix the problem. The reason the sumps are not working is probably because they are in the finished area. The water flows through the dirt easier than going down two more feet, traveling under the concrete and into the sump wells. To fix the problem. First see where the water is building up outside when it rains create a runoff or drainage, make sure you have a slope running away from your home. Two finish the rest of the basement and put a sump it the new area.
2007-01-10 02:41:38 · answer #1 · answered by serviceteam_perry 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try the easy stuff first. Regrade the soil so that the lawn around the entire basement slopes down and away from the foundation. That is especially necessary at the point at which the high portion and the low portion of the basement wall meet.
Take a look at your roof runoff. Do you have a gutter-leader system? If so, you need to make sure they are not clogged. If they are clogged, the water will drain where you don't want it to. Consider installing gutters-leaders, if you don't have any.
Does your home sit at the bottom of any hills? If so, the hill's surface water may be draining too close to you basement walls. One approach is to dig a trench at the bottom of the hill and fill it with stone -- unless, of course, the hill ends too close to where your basement wall begins, in which case you have to dig the trench about 8 feet away from the wall -- depending on the length of the hill. This will at least reduce the runoff.
2007-01-10 02:11:56 · answer #2 · answered by jackbutler5555 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When it rains is there a lot of water around the house. You need to check with they city/town that you live in, there may not be adequate sewer/run off drainage, and in some towns it is not legal to have run off onto your property. We had a similar situation, the front part of the basement was cemented, when it rained the back part which was dirt flooded. We had to dig up the cement and put in adequate drainage pipes for the back part run off, and when digging to make everything at the right pitch, we hit artesean wells. The water was coming up from under ground, which added to the flooding when it rained. It was a real pain, but eventually we got it right.
2007-01-10 02:08:01 · answer #3 · answered by vivib 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My house is not that much different. It turned out that I had a stream that ran under the house. 150 years ago the then residents actually got their water from the stream. Anyway, I had to find where the water ran underground prior to reaching my house. I did and had a contractor dig 20 feet 'upstream' and then dig a curtain drain to divert the water. I still get a little water but not much. The down side was that it was about a $5000 job. But it had to be done. Good luck
2007-01-10 02:26:56 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
insurance premiums are always raised the next year if you make a claim during the 'just expired' insurance period. But I would suggest making the claim anyway as it will most likely be a much higher amount of money than any increase you will have to face. Saying that, be careful before you make a claim and read through your policy very carefully. Do not claim more than you can, make sure you are covered for flooding etc (in a general household policy it should be).
2016-05-23 03:53:34 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have you tried to seal off the open side? whwat you can do depends mostly on what the terrain your house is built on here
are some ideas1.make a well for the excess water to go.seal
all walls . 2.Drive well points around wet areas to keep water out.
wrap underground walls with a rubber lining. what you have is a cellar not a basement.
2007-01-10 02:13:32 · answer #6 · answered by cattdaddy1216 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have the unfinished part get finished by a licensed contractor. If they finish it with concrete and make sure the whole room is sealed off, it won't flood anymore.
2007-01-10 02:07:09 · answer #7 · answered by kgenesius 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
cant you get someone in there to finish the other side? seems only solution, and sounds like the other side could be a cellar from old days when people would put things down there to keep cool, like food and canning jars etc. goodluck.
2007-01-10 02:05:45 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would pave the dirt half with cement.
2007-01-10 02:05:31 · answer #9 · answered by Lindsay 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋