In the back of my house there's a exit from my basement, and a
exterior flight of stairs that leads to ground level. There's a drain
at the bottom of the stairwell/basement exit that is clogged with
dirt. I want to open it up to keep water from flooding into my
basement during heavy rains.

Given that the house is 70 years old, I want to be careful with
cleaning out the drain. I believe that I'll need an
(electric) power washer with some type of attachment that can be used
to blast the line clean, while using
a different pump to keep the water out of the well while I work.

What equipment do/did you use to accomplish the task?

-d

"Carthell" wrote in message
ps.com...
In the back of my house there's a exit from my basement, and a
exterior flight of stairs that leads to ground level. There's a drain
at the bottom of the stairwell/basement exit that is clogged with
dirt. I want to open it up to keep water from flooding into my
basement during heavy rains.

Given that the house is 70 years old, I want to be careful with
cleaning out the drain. I believe that I'll need an
(electric) power washer with some type of attachment that can be used
to blast the line clean, while using
a different pump to keep the water out of the well while I work.

What equipment do/did you use to accomplish the task?

You want to ADD water to a plugged-drain situation?
I'd start with a shop vac, power auger, and hand tools. Disassemble the
drain cover and clean it all out dry, as best you can. Hopefully, there is a
collection box or trap under the drain grate, and it is likely that most of
the clog problem is within a few feet of the drain opening.

Now if the entire line is plugged with dirt, that likely means the drain
tile it feeds into has collapsed, and you are SOL without a lot of expensive
digging. My basement floor drains were non-functional when I bought this
place. I finally got around to calling in a pro drain cleaning company, and
they gave up after an hour. They stuck a camera down the drain, and showed
me the lines were blocked with rust and mineral buildup. They aren't really
needed, so I'll likely just mud them over come sale time.

aem sends...