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Basement flooded! Xpost basement forum

13 years ago

We are building our house and things have been going well until we got a ton of rain and all the snow melted. We are at the stage of the brick going up, the windows are in. The basement is poured cement and the floor is poured cement. The windows are in too.The back yard is of course not graded and there is no wells in place int eh front of the house. ALOT of water got in. The builder now has a sump pump trying to drain the water out.

His explanation: there are no drains correctly in place on the outside of the house, the back is not graded and the 2 well pits that are planned to be placed in the front are not yet since the ground was too hard due to weather.

We were assessed by the survey to not forsee any drainage issues and there would be no need for french drains inside the house. There are going to be french drains outside. He thinks the leak was from the window since one could see that is the area where the water drainage pattern is.

Installed the basement there are only a furnace, the rough wiring was hanging and touching the ground, was immersed in the water. The basement stairs are in (wooden) and of course a small area of the framing in the middle of the basement stairs. We otherwise have steel beams.

Now besides the sump pump what else should the builder be doing? We are expecting more rain arghhhh. Should there be a dehumidifier? He should replace the furnace, the stairs. Should we replace the window? Is this all his responsibilty to replace?

Any other advise?

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Comments (5)

kipsy
13 years ago
doubt you will get anything replaced, how much did it flood ?
worthy
13 years ago
I once saw a home that had a waterline nearly six feet up the wall. That's a lot of water!

Until all the systems are in, you can't judge their effectiveness. Of course, If there's no dimple membrane on the exterior--or equivalent--you are guaranteed problems down the line.
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chrisk327
13 years ago
It can happen, my house which was an existing house that we are extensively remodeling/rebuilding had the basement flood when we removed some of the cement walkways around the house. It would flood every time it rained a few inches too. We have since put them back (with proper grading this time) and there is no more flooding. we were actually surprised that this really made so much of a difference.

hard to say whether it would have any effect, if it is all dried out your framing should be fine, you'll see any damage to the stairs. biggest concern would probably be the boiler.
dakota01
13 years ago
If your lot is perfectly flat - you may need a sump pump installed in the basement. That sump pump would only run if there is a lot of water around the house and the exterior french drains get overloaded.

We had a sump pump in our last house in the basement. Occassionaly when it would rain a lot - it would run. I think it helped to keep the basement from flooding.

I would not want to have a new home and have to have interior french drains. Many times until the landscape/grading etc is complete there is the potential for water/dampness in the basement.

Once the water is gone - for now I would run a dehumidifier to help dry out the block and concrete - otherwise you may get mold/mildew
brickeyee
13 years ago
If the perimeter drains are not installed and operating you have a swimming pool with a foundation in it.

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