Oh no, not again! Flooding

[jimnyc]

So with a french well and an outdoor system with professional industrial pumps, which lead to the sewer system for drainage.... Well, inundated. Then we have a sump pump in our basement and one in the garage. Another 2 sumps purchased and one extra placed in flooded yard and the other just along the garage entrance and driveway - and we're still getting hammered. Our whole area is having issues but especially our dreaded home.

It rained 5 inches overnight and 7 more expected today. Rain won't stop until 1ish tomorrow afternoon.

I took these less than an hour after it finally started getting into our home. All them pumps and simply couldn't keep up. 5 yards surrounding our backyard all drain into our yard. So basically 5-7 backyards of rain coming here. City couldn't care less. I want to put like 20,000lbs of dirt in my yard to prevent any water from reaching ours. That would get their attention!

We bought a brand new furnace (AC/heat) earlier this year, and it's submerged right now. We also replaced our hot water heater and had them raise it off the ground. Well, water reached anyway and the pilot light and guts of the unit are flooded.

Our Backyard:



Front of house and driveway to garage:



Backyard prior to inundation:



Front garage:



Basement:



And now, no more rushing in water like that, but only because it has no risen above that mark, by a lot:

My poor workbench, and everything I could quickly get off the ground, and some into our sinks down there...



And video:

[fj1200]

We bought a brand new furnace (AC/heat) earlier this year, and it's submerged right now. We also replaced our hot water heater and had them raise it off the ground. Well, water reached anyway and the pilot light and guts of the unit are flooded.

Wow, that's just horrible. Any chance that they can hang a new furnace from the bottom of the 1st floor joists? Same thing with a water heater? Do you have tankless water heater? They're pretty small and can hang them about anywhere.

[jimnyc]

Wow, that's just horrible. Any chance that they can hang a new furnace from the bottom of the 1st floor joists? Same thing with a water heater? Do you have tankless water heater? They're pretty small and can hang them about anywhere.

They said they couldn't hang the furnace, perhaps because of the current makeup surrounding it? Plus it's pretty damn big. Wifey and I had trouble finding anything that would work for us, and the size needed. I wasn't fully involved in that one so need to ask her why it is the way it is. We also spent a damn fortune over the years building that outdoor well system, and all the labor... they had to open the backyard a large amount with a tractor to install some massive system under their which when the water seeps into it - it then transfers to the huge hole where the pumps are at. It was supposed to fix the issue..... but no way to stop the rain, and no way to force all these neighbors from draining into our yard. And right now, just way too much rain water and water is saturated and overflows. Then when it did flood in past few years, it never made it into the home at least. But luck hit here in the NY region and the amount of water is just too much.

It is a tankless hot water heater from what I recall. Does that mean we'll be ok once she dries out and relight things? Same issues there where we couldn't find a sizeable heater that hung from the ceiling, and apparently the way the gas gets to it is piping at the 12 inch level or so.

That's all I know for sure. I'm better with damn computer questions than I am with fixing home problems! Gotta see if my wife recalls details better. My brain still works wonderfully well, just has a limited amount of memory apparently.

[jimnyc]

Ok, spoke to her. NOT a tankless system and couldn't find a sizeable tankless for ceiling. And the furnace cannot be on joists in our basement, not unless you have 6 feet of clearance underneath, and nothing remotely large enough to support our home will leave that kind of space.

[fj1200]

It is a tankless hot water heater from what I recall. Does that mean we'll be ok once she dries out and relight things? Same issues there where we couldn't find a sizeable heater that hung from the ceiling, and apparently the way the gas gets to it is piping at the 12 inch level or so.

I'd say it's the electronics that might not be OK after drying out. You would think if these are insurance claims that they would have an interest in avoid future claims but as you say, tough telling without knowing all the details. Good luck man.

[jimnyc]

I'd say it's the electronics that might not be OK after drying out. You would think if these are insurance claims that they would have an interest in avoid future claims but as you say, tough telling without knowing all the details. Good luck man.

Lookup flood insurance in NY, and we're in a flood area, so we only get covered IF a product fails... if sump pump breaks and it floods for example. Otherwise they deny any and all claims.

Now, IF your vehicle gets totaled while sitting in your garage it will be covered by auto insurance. Happened and I know too well. Now my truck is far away at top of our driveway and wife's car parked in the street.

[NightTrain]

Would a couple of feet of topsoil to raise your borders do the trick? This isn't the first time you guys have been swamped.

Or how about some sort of watertight fencing? You're already fenced in, would 24" of barrier prevent this?

[jimnyc]

Would a couple of feet of topsoil to raise your borders do the trick? This isn't the first time you guys have been swamped.

Or how about some sort of watertight fencing? You're already fenced in, would 24" of barrier prevent this?

Yeah, like I said above, I would love actually about 20,000lbs of dirt to simply raise the entire yard. But we would need a lot of work again and also permits. Don't think the local government gonna cooperate with that idea.

The problem is - our backyard literally used to be a lake back in the day. For whatever reason it was removed and now our yard is in a huge depression in the land. That's why all the other neighbors water is naturally leaving their yards when it rains hard and comes to ours. 3 homes on the neighboring block and both of our neighbors. F**kers should have properly leveled the entire area before ever building here.

That, and the neighbor never once disclosed to us any of the flooding issues. We didn't know until a massive storm years later and too late to sue. And now when we sell this money pit - by law you need to disclose that little nugget. I'm sure buyers will jump at the chance when they find that out!

I personally think the city should be the ones to come in and fix the grading issues between yards. Other than that, we only have access to our own. Perhaps a moat system but you are not allowed to make things that would redirect water into other yards. But apparently if it happens naturally it's ok.

[jimnyc]

Would a couple of feet of topsoil to raise your borders do the trick? This isn't the first time you guys have been swamped.

Or how about some sort of watertight fencing? You're already fenced in, would 24" of barrier prevent this?

Or perhaps a cement based system in front of the fencing to go deep underground and high enough to block the water.

We're about to sell anyway - and this is a major issue.

AND - what if I told you I knew we already needed a new roof- and then this happened last night 2 floors up from the basement, so emergency roofers tomorrow and work begins monday, and will then need shit fixed in the room leaking with about 7 buckets lining that crack to catch water.

And that's praying that the eaves in the ceiling/roof don't need replacing.

[NightTrain]

Damn, man.

Want me to send you the Kawasaki and hip waders??

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

Didn't know you were on a former lake... this all makes more sense now. I figured it was the fault of neighboring landscaping.

What about digging a sump pit, lower than the level of your basement and putting an automatic pump to directly pump into the sewer system? A 3" pump could surely keep up with that inbound water. That would be a lot cheaper than what you're putting up with now with house damage every couple of years.

[jimnyc]

Damn, man.

Want me to send you the Kawasaki and hip waders??

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

Didn't know you were on a former lake... this all makes more sense now. I figured it was the fault of neighboring landscaping.

What about digging a sump pit, lower than the level of your basement and putting an automatic pump to directly pump into the sewer system? A 3" pump could surely keep up with that inbound water. That would be a lot cheaper than what you're putting up with now with house damage every couple of years.

We have a 10 foot by 10 foot deep hole with a monstrous catch basin of sorts. That funnels the water through the french drain and into the sump pit on the side of the house, where we have 4 industrial pumps inside which then funnels to the sewer system. The sump pit is like 5 feet deep and needs to fill quite a bit before hitting the floats. Then it drains it. But right now, that 5 foot pit is overflowing at the top, as is the french drain and the underground basin can only help with water that seeps into the ground - which of course is oversaturating and filling our yard. Then it gets to our rear door to garage in which eventually gets through. I looked into a steel water barrier/door surrounding that opening - but 2 issues: 1) that displaced water will then just gain height and come around the side of the house to the garage entry 2) and the water also eventually seeps into the ground surface of the sump pit in the basement. So we get hit from every direction.

[jimnyc]

Damn, man.

Want me to send you the Kawasaki and hip waders??

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

Didn't know you were on a former lake... this all makes more sense now. I figured it was the fault of neighboring landscaping.

What about digging a sump pit, lower than the level of your basement and putting an automatic pump to directly pump into the sewer system? A 3" pump could surely keep up with that inbound water. That would be a lot cheaper than what you're putting up with now with house damage every couple of years.

Forgot to mention - I wish I had waders actually! Wearing above knee rubber boots and they fill with water as it's beyond that deep downstairs.

[NightTrain]

What's your current GPM capacity and what do you estimate the actual inbound GPM rate to be? Double? Triple?

Sounds like your problem is not enough pump to keep you afloat.

[Kathianne]

Lordy I'm so sorry! Just awful.

My mom was pretty good at real estate-2 pieces of advice, orders really to my brother and I:
1. Buy the least expensive property in expensive area.
2. Get topographical survey of area, buy only in highest elevation-mind you this is in IL which floods and is very flat! LOL! Smart she was.

[jimnyc]

What's your current GPM capacity and what do you estimate the actual inbound GPM rate to be? Double? Triple?

Sounds like your problem is not enough pump to keep you afloat.

Only way to reduce would in fact be bigger and more pumps, but that's crazy. OR, larger piping but a little late for that. Our regular pumps, ones you can move by hand, are all drained via hoses.

ONE time we had to have the fire department come as we were worried about getting electrocuted. Not only did they bring a MONSTER pump I've never seen anywhere, but their damn fire hose attached to it and ran to our street. They emptied our flood in less than half an hour.

I don't know about any of the volume rates nor any GPM - 'cept for my toilet as it states it inside the tank.