There are a plethora of ways your basement can flood. Pipes breaking, raining water seeping through the cracks, your basement drain backing up and flooding it, etc. A sump pump in that case may help you get the water out, but have you checked it out lately? As homeowners, we tend to forget the things that eventually will matter. In my home we have a sum pump that hasn’t been checked in years. Why? We have a finished basement with no leaks, and so we believe it will always stay that way, but should we checked the pump just to make sure? As human beings we tend to neglect things that are out of sight, and although they will eventually matter, we still don’t do them. Read the following articles for more information about this topic.
Basement Drain Backing Up and Flooding:
Stop Basement Flooding
So your basement floor drain is backing up and flooding. There’s water in the basement.
First, you need to determine if it is local waste produced in your home that can’t get out due to a blockage in the main line leaving your home, or if it is waste from the sewer system coming back in (called a backflow).
A blockage can occur if a portion of the line has broken, but generally a blockage is caused by roots that have grown into the line, or by something flushed down a toilet that has lodged in the drain pipe.
When this happens, you will see evidence of your basement drain backing up as the lowest point in the system (generally the basement drain overflows) is where the evidence is visible.
Chemical products may work to open the drain, but running a snake through the line is generally necessary. In the case of roots of invading the basement drain line, a power snake with sharp cutting blades must be used to cut through the roots.
What To Do If Your Basement Drain Backs Up
You’ve got water coming into your basement and you’re wondering what to do. What could be causing this and how should I handle it? Let’s look at the common causes and the steps you need to take to solve the problem.
Most homes have one connection to the sewer system. Sewer water levels in this pipe are normally below the level of your basement floor. However, sometimes water levels in the sewers rise above this level due to physical changes. Gravity will push this extra water in the sewage pipe down, and out of the drain.
Reasons for Backups
Blockage – The most common reason for a basement drain back up is that there is something in the pipe. This can be household refuse or blockage due to something like tree roots that have grown into the line.
Perimeter drain maintenance can go far to prevent basement flooding: expert
VICTORIA – Waking up to the sound of rushing water in the house can be pretty unnerving. For Madeleine Bragg and her husband Mike, they faced a flooded basement.
“Mike gets up at 5 a.m. to go to work and he heard this sound like a waterfall. He opened the door to the stairs and it was a waterfall going into our basement,” says Madeleine.
The couple had been in the process of finishing the basement of their Fernie, B.C., home, including digging out and waterproofing the entire foundation in hopes of including a third bedroom, TV room, workspace and storage in the future.
“In the past three years, we’ve had some minor weeping here and there through the concrete, but this year it kept snowing, like 20 centimetres, and then raining on top of it,” she says.
“When it rains on top of snow it turns into ice and then it runs down the ice into our back walkway, and then under the back door, down the stairs and into the basement.”
The couple had installed a sump pump to aid with any potential water buildup from the perimeter drains and ground saturation, but due to the amount of water the pump couldn’t keep up.
