My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my
surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where framing on the sides of
the doorwall extended down below grade. I guess what ever they had covered
this with (OSB or one by) has disintegrated in the 12 years since the house
was built and dirt had filled in the area between the studs. When we had
that exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the basement floor
level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly water
proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by wolmanized that I
back buttered with some foundation waterproofer tar then after I install it
cover it with blue-skin and more waterproofer. I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg

On Apr 27, 10:30*pm, "CraigT" wrote:
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. *I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my
surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where framing on the sides of
the doorwall extended down below grade. *I guess what ever they had covered
this with (OSB or one by) has disintegrated in the 12 years since the house
was built and dirt had filled in the area between the studs. When we had
that exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the basement floor
level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly water
proof. *I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by wolmanized that I
back buttered with some foundation waterproofer tar then after I install it
cover it with blue-skin and more waterproofer. *I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg

its really not possible to seal water out, a basement is not a
tub......

think interior french drain with sump pump. then try to seal the hole

bob haller wrote:
On Apr 27, 10:30 pm, "CraigT" wrote:
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall
right next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain
storm. I thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls,
but to my surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where
framing on the sides of the doorwall extended down below grade. I
guess what ever they had covered this with (OSB or one by) has
disintegrated in the 12 years since the house was built and dirt had
filled in the area between the studs. When we had that exceptionally
hard rain the water got wicked up over the basement floor level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly
water proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by
wolmanized that I back buttered with some foundation waterproofer
tar then after I install it cover it with blue-skin and more
waterproofer. I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg

its really not possible to seal water out, a basement is not a
tub......

think interior french drain with sump pump. then try to seal the hole

And replace below grade wood with concrete or something.

"CraigT" wrote in message
...
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my
surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where framing on the sides
of the doorwall extended down below grade. I guess what ever they had
covered this with (OSB or one by) has disintegrated in the 12 years since
the house was built and dirt had filled in the area between the studs.
When we had that exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the
basement floor level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly water
proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by wolmanized
that I back buttered with some foundation waterproofer tar then after I
install it cover it with blue-skin and more waterproofer. I really don't
know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg


Wow, I wonder how the grade/wall height passed inspection. Either the walls
were not poured high enough, or the grade is too high.

Here's an interesting discussion.
http://www.inspectionnews.net/home_i...ill-grade.html

Here's

On Sat, 27 Apr 2013 22:30:18 -0400, "CraigT"
wrote:

My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my
surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where framing on the sides of
the doorwall extended down below grade. I guess what ever they had covered
this with (OSB or one by) has disintegrated in the 12 years since the house
was built and dirt had filled in the area between the studs. When we had
that exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the basement floor
level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly water
proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by wolmanized that I
back buttered with some foundation waterproofer tar then after I install it
cover it with blue-skin and more waterproofer. I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg



You need to excavate your yard down to below the level of your
foundation so the soil does not get anywhere close to the wood.
Anything else you do is just a patch - like putting a bandaid on
cancer.

That walkout was designed to have a step down to the patio or ground
level, and someone brought the grade level up to the bottom of the
door. REAL BAD move.

On Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:48:36 -0700 (PDT), bob haller
wrote:

On Apr 27, 10:30*pm, "CraigT" wrote:
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. *I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my
surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where framing on the sides of
the doorwall extended down below grade. *I guess what ever they had covered
this with (OSB or one by) has disintegrated in the 12 years since the house
was built and dirt had filled in the area between the studs. When we had
that exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the basement floor
level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly water
proof. *I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by wolmanized that I
back buttered with some foundation waterproofer tar then after I install it
cover it with blue-skin and more waterproofer. *I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg

its really not possible to seal water out, a basement is not a
tub......

think interior french drain with sump pump. then try to seal the hole
Overthinking it again - as usual. No problem keeping THAT water out
- just keep the water level below the level of the wood.

On Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:53:05 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:

bob haller wrote:
On Apr 27, 10:30 pm, "CraigT" wrote:
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall
right next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain
storm. I thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls,
but to my surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where
framing on the sides of the doorwall extended down below grade. I
guess what ever they had covered this with (OSB or one by) has
disintegrated in the 12 years since the house was built and dirt had
filled in the area between the studs. When we had that exceptionally
hard rain the water got wicked up over the basement floor level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly
water proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by
wolmanized that I back buttered with some foundation waterproofer
tar then after I install it cover it with blue-skin and more
waterproofer. I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg

its really not possible to seal water out, a basement is not a
tub......

think interior french drain with sump pump. then try to seal the hole

And replace below grade wood with concrete or something.

As designed and built, easier to just keep all wood above ground -
which is the normal way of building (with the exception of PTW
foundations - which (thankfully) never caught on.

wrote:
On Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:53:05 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:

bob haller wrote:
On Apr 27, 10:30 pm, "CraigT" wrote:
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall
right next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain
storm. I thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls,
but to my surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where
framing on the sides of the doorwall extended down below grade. I
guess what ever they had covered this with (OSB or one by) has
disintegrated in the 12 years since the house was built and dirt
had filled in the area between the studs. When we had that
exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the basement
floor level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly
water proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by
wolmanized that I back buttered with some foundation waterproofer
tar then after I install it cover it with blue-skin and more
waterproofer. I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg

its really not possible to seal water out, a basement is not a
tub......

think interior french drain with sump pump. then try to seal the
hole

And replace below grade wood with concrete or something.

As designed and built, easier to just keep all wood above ground -
which is the normal way of building (with the exception of PTW
foundations - which (thankfully) never caught on.

From the pictures, it doesn't appear to me to meet that standard.

On Sat, 27 Apr 2013 22:30:18 -0400, "CraigT"
wrote:

My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my


So you have that wood *below* your poured concrete walls?

The pictures are of where your feet would be walking from the basement
to the yard? And the walls of the basement are poured concrete?
Yet there is wood at foot-level? Is there concrete farther down?

What about all around the house? AIUI, the concrete or cinder blocks
should be higher than the earth. And no exterior wood should be
below ground level.

Do you have neighbors whose houses were built by the same builder?
(Or non-neighbors ) You should talk to them about their houses and
yours and what they've done, and what worked and who did it . .

surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where framing on the sides of
the doorwall extended down below grade. I guess what ever they had covered
this with (OSB or one by) has disintegrated in the 12 years since the house
was built and dirt had filled in the area between the studs. When we had
that exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the basement floor
level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly water
proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by wolmanized that I
back buttered with some foundation waterproofer tar then after I install it
cover it with blue-skin and more waterproofer. I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg

"Chomper" wrote in message
...

"CraigT" wrote in message
...
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my
surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where framing on the sides
of the doorwall extended down below grade. I guess what ever they had
covered this with (OSB or one by) has disintegrated in the 12 years since
the house was built and dirt had filled in the area between the studs.
When we had that exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the
basement floor level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly water
proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by wolmanized
that I back buttered with some foundation waterproofer tar then after I
install it cover it with blue-skin and more waterproofer. I really don't
know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg


Wow, I wonder how the grade/wall height passed inspection. Either the
walls were not poured high enough, or the grade is too high.

Here's an interesting discussion.
http://www.inspectionnews.net/home_i...ill-grade.html

Here's

Interesting. When I first saw this I assumed that there was an option when
houses were built to where people could have gotten a larger doorwall, so
they just framed in the sides to accommodate a smaller doorwall. That ledge
the sill plate is sitting on is the footing the basement walls were poured
on.

Any excavation of backyard would not be easy. The house faces on to a pond
and the slope away from the house is kind of important.

Looking out from that doorwall: http://i.imgur.com/zccgcSe.jpg

View of the house from the back: http://i.imgur.com/fIMddGR.jpg

Now I'm no contractor, but isn't it common for the outside of the opening of
the concrete walls around a doorwall to be framed with treated wood to make
the installation of the doorwall easier? I can't really tell if the wood is
treated, but I would have assumed I would have seen a lot more rot after 10
plus years in the ground.

So far I think my best bet is to cut that sill plate out, pour concrete to
make it higher, then reinstall a new higher sill plate on top. I might be
able to do some local landscaping around that doorwall too.

On Apr 28, 12:51*am, micky wrote:
On Sat, 27 Apr 2013 22:30:18 -0400, "CraigT"
wrote:

My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. *I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my

So you have that wood *below* your poured concrete walls?

The pictures are of where your feet would be walking from the basement
to the yard? * And the walls of the basement are poured concrete?
Yet there is wood at foot-level? * Is there concrete farther down?

What about all around the house? *AIUI, the concrete or cinder blocks
should be higher than the earth. * And no exterior wood should be
below ground level.

Do you have neighbors whose houses were built by the same builder?
(Or non-neighbors ) You should talk to them about their houses and
yours and what they've done, and what worked and who did it . .




Agree with the above, CL, Chomper, etc. This isn't right. Wood
should
not be below grade. We don't know what the
rest of the grading/design is, but I would start there and figure out
how
much wood is below grade and what it would take to rectify it. Since
this wood is kaput it's likely the rest is in trouble too. This was
probably
designed correctly, but then when the final grading was done, they
did not grade it correctly.

You could bandaid the current problem somehow, but it's not the right
solution and if you have other similar wood, it's going to be causing
problems before long. One other thing, this kind of condition is a
prime target for termites.

wrote in message
...
On Apr 28, 12:51 am, micky wrote:
On Sat, 27 Apr 2013 22:30:18 -0400, "CraigT"
wrote:

My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall
right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my

So you have that wood *below* your poured concrete walls?

The pictures are of where your feet would be walking from the basement
to the yard? And the walls of the basement are poured concrete?
Yet there is wood at foot-level? Is there concrete farther down?

What about all around the house? AIUI, the concrete or cinder blocks
should be higher than the earth. And no exterior wood should be
below ground level.

Do you have neighbors whose houses were built by the same builder?
(Or non-neighbors ) You should talk to them about their houses and
yours and what they've done, and what worked and who did it . .




When I first saw this I assumed that there was an option when
houses were built to where people could have gotten a larger doorwall, so
they just framed in the sides to accommodate a smaller doorwall. That
ledge
the sill plate is sitting on is the footing the basement walls were poured
on.

Any excavation of backyard would not be easy. The house faces on to a
pond
and the slope away from the house is kind of important.

Looking out from that doorwall: http://i.imgur.com/zccgcSe.jpg

View of the house from the back: http://i.imgur.com/fIMddGR.jpg

Now I'm no contractor, but isn't it common for the outside of the opening
of
the concrete walls around a doorwall to be framed with treated wood to
make
the installation of the doorwall easier? I can't really tell if the wood
is
treated, but I would have assumed I would have seen a lot more rot after
10
plus years in the ground.

So far I think my best bet is to cut that sill plate out, pour concrete to
make it higher, then reinstall a new higher sill plate on top. I might be
able to do some local landscaping around that doorwall too.

As you can kind of see from that one pic (looking at the pond) all the
houses are landscaped exactly the same. Grade was brought within an inch of
the bottom of the door wall. If it doesn't rain today I'm going to dig in
front of the doorwall and on the far side to see what they did. The more I
think about it, I might have to pour some concrete to replace the wood AND
maybe pour a small concrete landing/patio couple inches under the doorwall,
which won't require too much of a slope away from the house (like 1/4" per
1'). This should get all wood above grade.

On 4/27/2013 10:30 PM, CraigT wrote:
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my
surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where framing on the sides of
the doorwall extended down below grade. I guess what ever they had covered
this with (OSB or one by) has disintegrated in the 12 years since the house
was built and dirt had filled in the area between the studs. When we had
that exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the basement floor
level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly water
proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by wolmanized that I
back buttered with some foundation waterproofer tar then after I install it
cover it with blue-skin and more waterproofer. I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg

Bad design!
You must not have building inspectors where you live, or it wasn't
inspected correctly. How many more of the sills around the house are
below grade?


--
Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeros after @

On Sun, 28 Apr 2013 02:20:32 -0400, "CraigT"
wrote:


"Chomper" wrote in message
...

"CraigT" wrote in message
...
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my
surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where framing on the sides
of the doorwall extended down below grade. I guess what ever they had
covered this with (OSB or one by) has disintegrated in the 12 years since
the house was built and dirt had filled in the area between the studs.
When we had that exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the
basement floor level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly water
proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by wolmanized
that I back buttered with some foundation waterproofer tar then after I
install it cover it with blue-skin and more waterproofer. I really don't
know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg


Wow, I wonder how the grade/wall height passed inspection. Either the
walls were not poured high enough, or the grade is too high.

Here's an interesting discussion.
http://www.inspectionnews.net/home_i...ill-grade.html

Here's

Interesting. When I first saw this I assumed that there was an option when
houses were built to where people could have gotten a larger doorwall, so
they just framed in the sides to accommodate a smaller doorwall. That ledge
the sill plate is sitting on is the footing the basement walls were poured
on.

Any excavation of backyard would not be easy. The house faces on to a pond
and the slope away from the house is kind of important.

Looking out from that doorwall: http://i.imgur.com/zccgcSe.jpg

View of the house from the back: http://i.imgur.com/fIMddGR.jpg

Now I'm no contractor, but isn't it common for the outside of the opening of
the concrete walls around a doorwall to be framed with treated wood to make
the installation of the doorwall easier? I can't really tell if the wood is
treated, but I would have assumed I would have seen a lot more rot after 10
plus years in the ground.

So far I think my best bet is to cut that sill plate out, pour concrete to
make it higher, then reinstall a new higher sill plate on top. I might be
able to do some local landscaping around that doorwall too.

Given these latest pictures, I think that may be your only choice. In
addition, I think I'd pour a slab under the deck, pitched away from
the house. Then attach some fiberglass or corrugated metal roofing
under the deck, also pitched away from the house, to try to get as
much water as possible, as far as possible, from the house. Ground
water could still be an issue, though. It's a bad situation that may
call for professional help before you make it worse.

wrote in :

On Sat, 27 Apr 2013 22:30:18 -0400, "CraigT"
wrote:

My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my
surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where framing on the sides of
the doorwall extended down below grade. I guess what ever they had covered
this with (OSB or one by) has disintegrated in the 12 years since the house
was built and dirt had filled in the area between the studs. When we had
that exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the basement floor
level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly water
proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by wolmanized that I
back buttered with some foundation waterproofer tar then after I install it
cover it with blue-skin and more waterproofer. I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg



You need to excavate your yard down to below the level of your
foundation so the soil does not get anywhere close to the wood.
Anything else you do is just a patch - like putting a bandaid on
cancer.

That walkout was designed to have a step down to the patio or ground
level, and someone brought the grade level up to the bottom of the
door. REAL BAD move.

Totally agree. The soil level needs to be well below any wood, or the problem will occur
again and again.

"willshak" wrote in message
...
On 4/27/2013 10:30 PM, CraigT wrote:
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my
surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where framing on the sides
of
the doorwall extended down below grade. I guess what ever they had
covered
this with (OSB or one by) has disintegrated in the 12 years since the
house
was built and dirt had filled in the area between the studs. When we had
that exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the basement
floor
level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly water
proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by wolmanized
that I
back buttered with some foundation waterproofer tar then after I install
it
cover it with blue-skin and more waterproofer. I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg

Bad design!
You must not have building inspectors where you live, or it wasn't
inspected correctly. How many more of the sills around the house are below
grade?


--
Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeros after @

Agreed.

Well, it's raining today and I noticed something that is making the problem
even worse. The perforated drainage tube that goes down to the drainage
tube, that empties into to the sump pump (then it is pumped to the pond),
well because the footing sticks out about 6" at back of the house this
drainage tube is sloped at an angle and a lot of the rain water is emptying
out of the perforations and being deposited right next to the wall.

http://i.imgur.com/d3mWoCj.jpg

On Sun, 28 Apr 2013 02:20:32 -0400, "CraigT"
wrote:



Interesting. When I first saw this I assumed that there was an option when
houses were built to where people could have gotten a larger doorwall, so
they just framed in the sides to accommodate a smaller doorwall. That ledge

I've never heard "doorwall" before, but from what I can find, it seems
to mean a door that dominates a wall. At least a sliding glass door
with 2 segments. Guys, does he mean "doorway" in those places where
he says doorwall.

the sill plate is sitting on is the footing the basement walls were poured
on.

So why did they use wood, and did they use it only in this one spot?

Any excavation of backyard would not be easy. The house faces on to a pond
and the slope away from the house is kind of important.

Any excavation would only be one or two feet from the house, 3 at
most, and would be refilled after it was fixed. I wonder if you
have a claim against the builder. Not worth it if it is only 2 linear
feet involved, but what if it is more?. If you ask, be sure to say
what state you live in. State laws vary. Maybe even a joint claim
(or class action?) I'm not big on suing, but depending on what some
pro's say, if it's more than what the pictures show, this seems very
bad to me.

I am not a builder, a carpenter, a cement man, or a general contractor

Looking out from that doorwall: http://i.imgur.com/zccgcSe.jpg

View of the house from the back: http://i.imgur.com/fIMddGR.jpg


So far I think my best bet is to cut that sill plate out, pour concrete to
make it higher, then reinstall a new higher sill plate on top.

Unless you plan on selling soon and want to keep this a secret, you
should bring this up at a meeting of the homeowners association, or
talk to all those who have grade level basement doors, like the ones
in the first picture above. You still seem only concerned about
your doorway

I might be
able to do some local landscaping around that doorwall too.


I'll admit that keeping water away from the rocks under the deck might
help a lot. My downspout drained into a cement splash block, which
emptied 18" from the house. But the splashblock wasn't really under
the downspout and enough water filled the soil that 5 feet down on the
inside, inside the cinder block basement wall, my 18" wide sheetrock
molded and rotted. up to 6" above the floor. Someone talked me into
extending the downspout 6 feet, and maybe the whole thing is dry now.
I really should check. (The rotted spot is on the other side of the
room and behind a big chair, so I don't really care.)

"CraigT" wrote in message
...
Interesting. When I first saw this I assumed that there was an option
when houses were built to where people could have gotten a larger
doorwall, so they just framed in the sides to accommodate a smaller
doorwall. That ledge the sill plate is sitting on is the footing the
basement walls were poured on.

Any excavation of backyard would not be easy. The house faces on to a
pond and the slope away from the house is kind of important.

Looking out from that doorwall: http://i.imgur.com/zccgcSe.jpg

View of the house from the back: http://i.imgur.com/fIMddGR.jpg

Now I'm no contractor, but isn't it common for the outside of the opening
of the concrete walls around a doorwall to be framed with treated wood to
make the installation of the doorwall easier? I can't really tell if the
wood is treated, but I would have assumed I would have seen a lot more
rot after 10 plus years in the ground.

So far I think my best bet is to cut that sill plate out, pour concrete
to make it higher, then reinstall a new higher sill plate on top. I
might be able to do some local landscaping around that doorwall too.



Ok, when I saw the first pictures, I thought you had a basement below the
patio door. Either way, your grading must be properly graded before you
attempt to fix any rot.

Looking at the newer pictures you posted, especially the one capturing
looking towards the home. It appears you have plenty of fall to the left of
the structure, if properly graded. No doubt you would want to get the area
"OOPS'd" before doing any digging, and there is no doubt too much material
to move manually. In other words, someone with experience (landscaping,
excavating, etc) to do the work with a skidsteer.

No structure material should touch any earth or mulch except concrete.
Termite shields should also be in place as required by your code. Be sure
to leave the 4" or 6" or whatever _your_ code requires between building
materials & grading. Your local building department will gladly answer all
questions regarding your project, I can assure you that.

On Apr 28, 12:08*pm, micky wrote:
On Sun, 28 Apr 2013 02:20:32 -0400, "CraigT"
wrote:



Interesting. *When I first saw this I assumed that there was an option when
houses were built to where people could have gotten a larger doorwall, so
they just framed in the sides to accommodate a smaller doorwall. *That ledge

I've never heard "doorwall" before, but from what I can find, it seems
to mean a door that dominates a wall. *At least a sliding glass door
with 2 segments. * *Guys, does he mean "doorway" in those places where
he says doorwall.

the sill plate is sitting on is the footing the basement walls were poured
on.

So why did they use wood, and did they use it only in this one spot?

Any excavation of backyard would not be easy. *The house faces on to a pond
and the slope away from the house is kind of important.

Any excavation would only be one or two feet from the house, 3 at
most, and would be refilled after it was fixed.

I don't think it's that simple. He essentially has a situation
where the outside is graded flush to the bottom of the door.
That just isn't right. The more normal solution would be to
re-grade the outside so that the soil is below where the
wood ends. And that is what he's talking about doing.

There is plenty of grade to work with from the house to
the pond. And it looks from the pic like the foundation comes up
higher out of the ground as you move away from
the door and go under the deck. If that's the case, it may
be possible to regrade the area by the door going over 5 ft
or so. That is if that is the only area where wood is below
grade.....

On Apr 28, 12:01*pm, "CraigT" wrote:
"willshak" wrote in message

...





On 4/27/2013 10:30 PM, CraigT wrote:
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. *I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my
surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where framing on the sides
of
the doorwall extended down below grade. *I guess what ever they had
covered
this with (OSB or one by) has disintegrated in the 12 years since the
house
was built and dirt had filled in the area between the studs. When we had
that exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the basement
floor
level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly water
proof. *I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by wolmanized
that I
back buttered with some foundation waterproofer tar then after I install
it
cover it with blue-skin and more waterproofer. *I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg

Bad design!
You must not have building inspectors where you live, or it wasn't
inspected correctly. How many more of the sills around the house are below
grade?

--
Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeros after @

Agreed.

Well, it's raining today and I noticed something that is making the problem
even worse. The perforated drainage tube that goes down to the drainage
tube, that empties into to the sump pump (then it is pumped to the pond),
well because the footing sticks out about 6" at back of the house this
drainage tube is sloped at an angle and a lot of the rain water is emptying
out of the perforations and being deposited right next to the wall.

http://i.imgur.com/d3mWoCj.jpg- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I have no idea that all that means and the pic doesn't
show it in context.

On Sun, 28 Apr 2013 12:26:30 -0400, "Chomper"
wrote:



Ok, when I saw the first pictures, I thought you had a basement below the
patio door. Either way, your grading must be properly graded before you
attempt to fix any rot.

Looking at the newer pictures you posted, especially the one capturing
looking towards the home. It appears you have plenty of fall to the left of
the structure, if properly graded. No doubt you would want to get the area
"OOPS'd" before doing any digging,

It's interesting the different terms used in different parts of the
country. I presume this is what in Maryland is called Miss Utility.
I heard a third name here once. To the OP, they come, for free, and
mark where the wires and pipes that provide things for your home are,
so you don't break them when you dig.

and there is no doubt too much material
to move manually. In other words, someone with experience (landscaping,
excavating, etc) to do the work with a skidsteer.

No structure material should touch any earth or mulch except concrete.
Termite shields should also be in place as required by your code. Be sure
to leave the 4" or 6" or whatever _your_ code requires between building
materials & grading. Your local building department will gladly answer all
questions regarding your project, I can assure you that.

On Sun, 28 Apr 2013 09:40:57 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Apr 28, 12:08*pm, micky wrote:
On Sun, 28 Apr 2013 02:20:32 -0400, "CraigT"
wrote:



Interesting. *When I first saw this I assumed that there was an option when
houses were built to where people could have gotten a larger doorwall, so
they just framed in the sides to accommodate a smaller doorwall. *That ledge

I've never heard "doorwall" before, but from what I can find, it seems
to mean a door that dominates a wall. *At least a sliding glass door
with 2 segments. * *Guys, does he mean "doorway" in those places where
he says doorwall.

the sill plate is sitting on is the footing the basement walls were poured
on.

So why did they use wood, and did they use it only in this one spot?

Any excavation of backyard would not be easy. *The house faces on to a pond
and the slope away from the house is kind of important.

Any excavation would only be one or two feet from the house, 3 at
most, and would be refilled after it was fixed.

I don't think it's that simple. He essentially has a situation
where the outside is graded flush to the bottom of the door.
That just isn't right. The more normal solution would be to
re-grade the outside so that the soil is below where the
wood ends. And that is what he's talking about doing.

I should have said what I had in mind, that all the wood would be
removed and replaced with cement or something permitted below grade.

I don't know if that's possible, however.

There is plenty of grade to work with from the house to
the pond. And it looks from the pic like the foundation comes up
higher out of the ground as you move away from
the door and go under the deck. If that's the case, it may
be possible to regrade the area by the door going over 5 ft
or so. That is if that is the only area where wood is below
grade.....

Yes, there's plenty of room between the house and the pond. Although
if they dig deep enough, they could all have canals right up to the
patio, and could use gondolas to visit their neighbors near the pond.
It would be very charming,

wrote in message
...
On Apr 28, 12:01 pm, "CraigT" wrote:
"willshak" wrote in message

...





On 4/27/2013 10:30 PM, CraigT wrote:
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall
right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my
surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where framing on the
sides
of
the doorwall extended down below grade. I guess what ever they had
covered
this with (OSB or one by) has disintegrated in the 12 years since the
house
was built and dirt had filled in the area between the studs. When we
had
that exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the basement
floor
level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly water
proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by wolmanized
that I
back buttered with some foundation waterproofer tar then after I
install
it
cover it with blue-skin and more waterproofer. I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg

Bad design!
You must not have building inspectors where you live, or it wasn't
inspected correctly. How many more of the sills around the house are
below
grade?

--
Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeros after @

Agreed.

Well, it's raining today and I noticed something that is making the
problem
even worse. The perforated drainage tube that goes down to the drainage
tube, that empties into to the sump pump (then it is pumped to the pond),
well because the footing sticks out about 6" at back of the house this
drainage tube is sloped at an angle and a lot of the rain water is
emptying
out of the perforations and being deposited right next to the wall.

http://i.imgur.com/d3mWoCj.jpg- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I have no idea that all that means and the pic doesn't
show it in context.


The downspout should have had a gooseneck in it to get it 6" away from the
siding so that when it runs into to the drainage tube the drainage tube
would end up more vertical and not at an angle. The drainage tube being
perforated, all the water is just running out at the bottom of that slope.

http://i.imgur.com/6iJMuPL.jpg

On Apr 28, 1:20*pm, "CraigT" wrote:
wrote in message

...
On Apr 28, 12:01 pm, "CraigT" wrote:





"willshak" wrote in message

...

On 4/27/2013 10:30 PM, CraigT wrote:
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall
right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my
surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where framing on the
sides
of
the doorwall extended down below grade. I guess what ever they had
covered
this with (OSB or one by) has disintegrated in the 12 years since the
house
was built and dirt had filled in the area between the studs. When we
had
that exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the basement
floor
level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly water
proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by wolmanized
that I
back buttered with some foundation waterproofer tar then after I
install
it
cover it with blue-skin and more waterproofer. I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg

Bad design!
You must not have building inspectors where you live, or it wasn't
inspected correctly. How many more of the sills around the house are
below
grade?

--
Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeros after @

Agreed.

Well, it's raining today and I noticed something that is making the
problem
even worse. The perforated drainage tube that goes down to the drainage
tube, that empties into to the sump pump (then it is pumped to the pond),
well because the footing sticks out about 6" at back of the house this
drainage tube is sloped at an angle and a lot of the rain water is
emptying
out of the perforations and being deposited right next to the wall.

http://i.imgur.com/d3mWoCj.jpg-Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I have no idea that all that means and the pic doesn't
show it in context.

The downspout should have had a gooseneck in it to get it 6" away from the
siding so that when it runs into to the drainage tube the drainage tube
would end up more vertical and not at an angle. The drainage tube being
perforated, all the water is just running out at the bottom of that slope..

http://i.imgur.com/6iJMuPL.jpg- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

OK, that makes more sense. So, you're saying the
water from the gutters goes into a PERFORATED pipe
and that in turn feeds into the sump pump? That, IMO,
is really dumb for 2 reasons:

1 - Why would it be perforated?

2 - Why would you channel water into a sump pit where
it has to be pumped out, instead of just running it over
to the lower area, pond etc directly? Among other bad
things, what happens if the electricity goes out during
a rain storm?

Are you sure it doesn't go over to the pond directly?
Perhaps the output from the sump pump feeding into
the same line?

wrote in message
...
On Apr 28, 1:20 pm, "CraigT" wrote:
wrote in message

...
On Apr 28, 12:01 pm, "CraigT" wrote:





"willshak" wrote in message

...

On 4/27/2013 10:30 PM, CraigT wrote:
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall
right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my
surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where framing on the
sides
of
the doorwall extended down below grade. I guess what ever they had
covered
this with (OSB or one by) has disintegrated in the 12 years since the
house
was built and dirt had filled in the area between the studs. When we
had
that exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the
basement
floor
level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly
water
proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by wolmanized
that I
back buttered with some foundation waterproofer tar then after I
install
it
cover it with blue-skin and more waterproofer. I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg

Bad design!
You must not have building inspectors where you live, or it wasn't
inspected correctly. How many more of the sills around the house are
below
grade?

--
Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeros after @

Agreed.

Well, it's raining today and I noticed something that is making the
problem
even worse. The perforated drainage tube that goes down to the drainage
tube, that empties into to the sump pump (then it is pumped to the
pond),
well because the footing sticks out about 6" at back of the house this
drainage tube is sloped at an angle and a lot of the rain water is
emptying
out of the perforations and being deposited right next to the wall.

http://i.imgur.com/d3mWoCj.jpg-Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I have no idea that all that means and the pic doesn't
show it in context.

The downspout should have had a gooseneck in it to get it 6" away from the
siding so that when it runs into to the drainage tube the drainage tube
would end up more vertical and not at an angle. The drainage tube being
perforated, all the water is just running out at the bottom of that slope.

http://i.imgur.com/6iJMuPL.jpg- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

OK, that makes more sense. So, you're saying the
water from the gutters goes into a PERFORATED pipe
and that in turn feeds into the sump pump? That, IMO,
is really dumb for 2 reasons:

1 - Why would it be perforated?

2 - Why would you channel water into a sump pit where
it has to be pumped out, instead of just running it over
to the lower area, pond etc directly? Among other bad
things, what happens if the electricity goes out during
a rain storm?

Are you sure it doesn't go over to the pond directly?
Perhaps the output from the sump pump feeding into
the same line?

Nope. ALL the rain water collected from the roof goes into the drainage
tubes that run around the perimeter of the house. This runs to the sump
pump which pumps it into the pond. This is typical for the entire
subdivision.

On Apr 28, 2:18*pm, "CraigT" wrote:
wrote in message

...
On Apr 28, 1:20 pm, "CraigT" wrote:





wrote in message

...
On Apr 28, 12:01 pm, "CraigT" wrote:

"willshak" wrote in message

...

On 4/27/2013 10:30 PM, CraigT wrote:
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall
right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm.. I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my
surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where framing on the
sides
of
the doorwall extended down below grade. I guess what ever they had
covered
this with (OSB or one by) has disintegrated in the 12 years since the
house
was built and dirt had filled in the area between the studs. When we
had
that exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the
basement
floor
level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly
water
proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by wolmanized
that I
back buttered with some foundation waterproofer tar then after I
install
it
cover it with blue-skin and more waterproofer. I really don't know..

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg

Bad design!
You must not have building inspectors where you live, or it wasn't
inspected correctly. How many more of the sills around the house are
below
grade?

--
Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeros after @

Agreed.

Well, it's raining today and I noticed something that is making the
problem
even worse. The perforated drainage tube that goes down to the drainage
tube, that empties into to the sump pump (then it is pumped to the
pond),
well because the footing sticks out about 6" at back of the house this
drainage tube is sloped at an angle and a lot of the rain water is
emptying
out of the perforations and being deposited right next to the wall.

http://i.imgur.com/d3mWoCj.jpg-Hidequoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I have no idea that all that means and the pic doesn't
show it in context.

The downspout should have had a gooseneck in it to get it 6" away from the
siding so that when it runs into to the drainage tube the drainage tube
would end up more vertical and not at an angle. The drainage tube being
perforated, all the water is just running out at the bottom of that slope.

http://i.imgur.com/6iJMuPL.jpg-Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

OK, that makes more sense. *So, you're saying the
water from the gutters goes into a PERFORATED pipe
and that in turn feeds into the sump pump? * That, IMO,
is really dumb for 2 reasons:

1 - Why would it be perforated?

2 - Why would you channel water into a sump pit where
it has to be pumped out, instead of just running it over
to the lower area, pond etc directly? * Among other bad
things, what happens if the electricity goes out during
a rain storm?

Are you sure it doesn't go over to the pond directly?
Perhaps the output from the sump pump feeding into
the same line?

Nope. ALL the rain water collected from the roof goes into the drainage
tubes that run around the perimeter of the house. *This runs to the sump
pump which pumps it into the pond. *This is typical for the entire
subdivision.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

You really live in one screwed up place. You only pump
water from the gutters if it's absolutely necessary, for obvious
reasons. And with that nice grade you have down to the pond,
no reason for pumping it. Reasons it's a bad idea:

Gravity drain is simple, zero energy cost and realiable

You want water going away from the house, not down into the
weeping tile system to add to what's there

If most of the roof water goes to the sump pump, I'm
suprised it can even handle it during a downpour.

If power goes out, it's bad enough if the sump pump was
just removing ground water. With the way yours is done,
even if there isn't any ground water flowing into the pit,
if power is lost, the sump pump fails, etc, you're gonna flood
the basement from the roof water. And if it does start to
flood, you could have an enormous amount of water in
no time.

If that were my house, I'd change that ASAP.

On Sat, 27 Apr 2013 20:49:03 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:

wrote:
On Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:53:05 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:

bob haller wrote:
On Apr 27, 10:30 pm, "CraigT" wrote:
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall
right next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain
storm. I thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls,
but to my surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where
framing on the sides of the doorwall extended down below grade. I
guess what ever they had covered this with (OSB or one by) has
disintegrated in the 12 years since the house was built and dirt
had filled in the area between the studs. When we had that
exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the basement
floor level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly
water proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by
wolmanized that I back buttered with some foundation waterproofer
tar then after I install it cover it with blue-skin and more
waterproofer. I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg

its really not possible to seal water out, a basement is not a
tub......

think interior french drain with sump pump. then try to seal the
hole

And replace below grade wood with concrete or something.

As designed and built, easier to just keep all wood above ground -
which is the normal way of building (with the exception of PTW
foundations - which (thankfully) never caught on.

From the pictures, it doesn't appear to me to meet that standard.

I'd say somebody backfilled and built up the back yard after the
inspection was done - someone who didn't have much of a clue what they
were doing.

On Sun, 28 Apr 2013 14:18:42 -0400, "CraigT"
wrote:


wrote in message
...
On Apr 28, 1:20 pm, "CraigT" wrote:
wrote in message

...
On Apr 28, 12:01 pm, "CraigT" wrote:





"willshak" wrote in message

...

On 4/27/2013 10:30 PM, CraigT wrote:
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall
right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my
surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where framing on the
sides
of
the doorwall extended down below grade. I guess what ever they had
covered
this with (OSB or one by) has disintegrated in the 12 years since the
house
was built and dirt had filled in the area between the studs. When we
had
that exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the
basement
floor
level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly
water
proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by wolmanized
that I
back buttered with some foundation waterproofer tar then after I
install
it
cover it with blue-skin and more waterproofer. I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg

Bad design!
You must not have building inspectors where you live, or it wasn't
inspected correctly. How many more of the sills around the house are
below
grade?

--
Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeros after @

Agreed.

Well, it's raining today and I noticed something that is making the
problem
even worse. The perforated drainage tube that goes down to the drainage
tube, that empties into to the sump pump (then it is pumped to the
pond),
well because the footing sticks out about 6" at back of the house this
drainage tube is sloped at an angle and a lot of the rain water is
emptying
out of the perforations and being deposited right next to the wall.

http://i.imgur.com/d3mWoCj.jpg-Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I have no idea that all that means and the pic doesn't
show it in context.

The downspout should have had a gooseneck in it to get it 6" away from the
siding so that when it runs into to the drainage tube the drainage tube
would end up more vertical and not at an angle. The drainage tube being
perforated, all the water is just running out at the bottom of that slope.

http://i.imgur.com/6iJMuPL.jpg- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

OK, that makes more sense. So, you're saying the
water from the gutters goes into a PERFORATED pipe
and that in turn feeds into the sump pump? That, IMO,
is really dumb for 2 reasons:

1 - Why would it be perforated?

2 - Why would you channel water into a sump pit where
it has to be pumped out, instead of just running it over
to the lower area, pond etc directly? Among other bad
things, what happens if the electricity goes out during
a rain storm?

Are you sure it doesn't go over to the pond directly?
Perhaps the output from the sump pump feeding into
the same line?

Nope. ALL the rain water collected from the roof goes into the drainage
tubes that run around the perimeter of the house. This runs to the sump
pump which pumps it into the pond. This is typical for the entire
subdivision.

I'd be selling while the selling's good and finding a place that was
built properly.

On Apr 28, 3:23*pm, wrote:
On Sat, 27 Apr 2013 20:49:03 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:





wrote:
On Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:53:05 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:

bob haller wrote:
On Apr 27, 10:30 pm, "CraigT" wrote:
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall
right next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain
storm. I thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls,
but to my surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where
framing on the sides of the doorwall extended down below grade. I
guess what ever they had covered this with (OSB or one by) has
disintegrated in the 12 years since the house was built and dirt
had filled in the area between the studs. When we had that
exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the basement
floor level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly
water proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by
wolmanized that I back buttered with some foundation waterproofer
tar then after I install it cover it with blue-skin and more
waterproofer. I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg

its really not possible to seal water out, a basement is not a
tub......

think interior french drain with sump pump. then try to seal the
hole

And replace below grade wood with concrete or something.

As designed and built, easier to just keep all wood above ground -
which is the normal *way of building (with the exception of PTW
foundations - which (thankfully) never caught on.

From the pictures, it doesn't appear to me to meet that standard.

I'd say somebody backfilled and built up the back yard after the
inspection was done - someone who didn't have much of a clue what they
were doing.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

+1

On Sun, 28 Apr 2013 11:33:33 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Apr 28, 2:18*pm, "CraigT" wrote:
wrote in message

...
On Apr 28, 1:20 pm, "CraigT" wrote:





wrote in message

...
On Apr 28, 12:01 pm, "CraigT" wrote:

"willshak" wrote in message

...

On 4/27/2013 10:30 PM, CraigT wrote:
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall
right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my
surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where framing on the
sides
of
the doorwall extended down below grade. I guess what ever they had
covered
this with (OSB or one by) has disintegrated in the 12 years since the
house
was built and dirt had filled in the area between the studs. When we
had
that exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the
basement
floor
level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly
water
proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by wolmanized
that I
back buttered with some foundation waterproofer tar then after I
install
it
cover it with blue-skin and more waterproofer. I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg

Bad design!
You must not have building inspectors where you live, or it wasn't
inspected correctly. How many more of the sills around the house are
below
grade?

--
Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeros after @

Agreed.

Well, it's raining today and I noticed something that is making the
problem
even worse. The perforated drainage tube that goes down to the drainage
tube, that empties into to the sump pump (then it is pumped to the
pond),
well because the footing sticks out about 6" at back of the house this
drainage tube is sloped at an angle and a lot of the rain water is
emptying
out of the perforations and being deposited right next to the wall.

http://i.imgur.com/d3mWoCj.jpg - Hidequoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I have no idea that all that means and the pic doesn't
show it in context.

The downspout should have had a gooseneck in it to get it 6" away from the
siding so that when it runs into to the drainage tube the drainage tube
would end up more vertical and not at an angle. The drainage tube being
perforated, all the water is just running out at the bottom of that slope.

http://i.imgur.com/6iJMuPL.jpg-Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

OK, that makes more sense. *So, you're saying the
water from the gutters goes into a PERFORATED pipe
and that in turn feeds into the sump pump? * That, IMO,
is really dumb for 2 reasons:

1 - Why would it be perforated?

2 - Why would you channel water into a sump pit where
it has to be pumped out, instead of just running it over
to the lower area, pond etc directly? * Among other bad
things, what happens if the electricity goes out during
a rain storm?

Are you sure it doesn't go over to the pond directly?
Perhaps the output from the sump pump feeding into
the same line?

Nope. ALL the rain water collected from the roof goes into the drainage
tubes that run around the perimeter of the house. *This runs to the sump
pump which pumps it into the pond. *This is typical for the entire
subdivision.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

You really live in one screwed up place. You only pump
water from the gutters if it's absolutely necessary, for obvious
reasons. And with that nice grade you have down to the pond,
no reason for pumping it. Reasons it's a bad idea:

Gravity drain is simple, zero energy cost and realiable

You want water going away from the house, not down into the
weeping tile system to add to what's there

If most of the roof water goes to the sump pump, I'm
suprised it can even handle it during a downpour.

I came home one day and found my sump pump runing full blast and still
the basement floor was flooded. Just a little bit but the entire floor
and not deep because all the boxes on the floor had sucked up lots of
water. Much** of the water from my downspouts goes indirectly
into my sump pump but it takes hours or days to get there. It's not
piped direct ly into the sump pump, like Craig's is.. **And much of
the water from the roof and downspouts seeps to the edge of my
property and into the stream bed on two sides of my house.

If power goes out, it's bad enough if the sump pump was
just removing ground water. With the way yours is done,
even if there isn't any ground water flowing into the pit,
if power is lost, the sump pump fails, etc, you're gonna flood
the basement from the roof water. And if it does start to
flood, you could have an enormous amount of water in
no time.

If that were my house, I'd change that ASAP.

Trader's right on everything. They sell battery run sumppumps that
can be hooked in parallel with the 110V pump, but their capacity is
much lower that the 110volt pump.. They sell water-powered pumps that
can also run in parallel, but even the biggest of these has a much
lower capacity.


Where do you live? What's the annual rainfall? What month has the
highest month's rainfall? How much is that?

Unless you live in Death Valley, I think you have a problem. And I
don't think you can rely on the buildre's judgment considering his use
of wood.

On 4/27/2013 10:19 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:48:36 -0700 (PDT), bob haller
wrote:

On Apr 27, 10:30 pm, "CraigT" wrote:
My walkout basement leaked a bunch of water from under the drywall right
next to my doorwall last week when we had a really hard rain storm. I
thought it was another crack in the poured concrete walls, but to my
surprise I found an area next to the doorwall where framing on the sides of
the doorwall extended down below grade. I guess what ever they had covered
this with (OSB or one by) has disintegrated in the 12 years since the house
was built and dirt had filled in the area between the studs. When we had
that exceptionally hard rain the water got wicked up over the basement floor
level.

Looks like I'm going to need to cover this with something fairly water
proof. I was thinking about maybe using a piece of one by wolmanized that I
back buttered with some foundation waterproofer tar then after I install it
cover it with blue-skin and more waterproofer. I really don't know.

Here are some pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/Vg6hsQI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5cs2glG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I5cvHIt.jpg

its really not possible to seal water out, a basement is not a
tub......

think interior french drain with sump pump. then try to seal the hole
Overthinking it again - as usual. No problem keeping THAT water out
- just keep the water level below the level of the wood.


Yeah. Interior french drain? Why not an exterior french drain?

I'd dig the grade down and install a french drain if needed.

On Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:14:40 -0400, micky
wrote:


If most of the roof water goes to the sump pump, I'm
suprised it can even handle it during a downpour.

I came home one day and found my sump pump runing full blast and still
the basement floor was flooded. Just a little bit but the entire floor
and not deep because all the boxes on the floor had sucked up lots of
water. Much** of the water from my downspouts goes indirectly
into my sump pump but it takes hours or days to get there. It's not
piped direct ly into the sump pump, like Craig's is.. **And much of
the water from the roof and downspouts seeps to the edge of my
property and into the stream bed on two sides of my house.

I was thinking about what I wrote here. It probably doesn't take
days for water, on top of the current water table, to get from the
backt of the house to the front.

What I do, and the OP can do, is look at the water level in the sump
when it's not raining. I always have a little water, but it's
almost 2 feet below the basement floor.

Then look when and after it's been raining. My sump pump goes on
and t hen stops for 5 minutes, or more or less. That one time it
was runnning constantly, and even then that might have been enough to
keep up with the water if the water input had been less. I've had
flooded basements for various reasons, and the water level never gets
above 1/8", and only once has it gotten out of the laundry room. I
glued a piece of wood in the doorway, so it won't get out of the
laundry room again, but it is a big sign when I sell the house that
I've had flooding, even if I've solved all the reasons it flooded. Oh,
well.

But none of this helps when there is a power failure, or pump failure,
or you're out of town for a long time and had forgotten to pay the
electric bill so you were behind before you left,l and they disconnect
your electricity.

IIRC, they make a pump of the same configuration that's bigger than
what I have 1/2HP instead of 1/3, or 1/3 instead of 1/4. I keep
meaning to replace mine. I also keep looking for a basepump, but
I've decided after years that all of the ones on Ebay will be almost
as expensive as new.

think interior french drain with sump pump. then try to seal the hole
* Overthinking it again *- as usual. No problem keeping THAT water out
- just keep the water level below the level of the wood.

Yeah. Interior french drain? Why not an exterior french drain?

I'd dig the grade down and install a french drain if needed.

its far harder to install a exterior french drain. since the drain
must be below the footer, to say nothing of sidewalks steps AC units
plants etc that must be moved to install the exterior french drain,
and then what do you do with the water?

I spent nearly 9 grand doing the exterior one, that ended the water
coming from the walls but within months it came burgling up from the
basement floor

3500 bucks for interoir drain and sump pump cured the problem.....

On Apr 29, 9:13*pm, bob haller wrote:
think interior french drain with sump pump. then try to seal the hole
* Overthinking it again *- as usual. No problem keeping THAT water out
- just keep the water level below the level of the wood.

Yeah. Interior french drain? Why not an exterior french drain?

I'd dig the grade down and install a french drain if needed.

But there is nothing here that indicates it's needed.
End of story. He has enough real problems already.

On Apr 29, 8:57*pm, micky wrote:
On Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:14:40 -0400, micky
wrote:



If most of the roof water goes to the sump pump, I'm
suprised it can even handle it during a downpour.

I came home one day and found my sump pump runing full blast and still
the basement floor was flooded. Just a little bit but the entire floor
and not deep because all the boxes on the floor had sucked up lots of
water. * * *Much** of the water from my downspouts goes indirectly
into my sump pump but it takes hours or days to get there. *It's not
piped direct ly into the sump pump, like Craig's is.. **And much of
the water from the roof and downspouts seeps to the edge of my
property and into the stream bed on two sides of my house.

I was thinking about what I wrote here. * It probably doesn't take
days for water, on top of the current water table, to get from the
backt of the house to the front.

What I do, and the OP can do, is look at the water level in the sump
when it's not raining. * *I always have a little water, but it's
almost 2 feet below the basement floor.

Then look when and after it's been raining. * *My sump pump goes on
and t hen stops for 5 minutes, or more or less. * *That one time it
was runnning constantly, and even then that might have been enough to
keep up with the water if the water input had been less. * *I've had
flooded basements for various reasons, and the water level never gets
above 1/8", and only once has it gotten out of the laundry room. *I
glued a piece of wood in the doorway, so it won't get out of the
laundry room again, but it is a big sign when I sell the house that
I've had flooding, even if I've solved all the reasons it flooded. Oh,
well.

But none of this helps when there is a power failure, or pump failure,
or you're out of town for a long time and had forgotten to pay the
electric bill so you were behind before you left,l and they disconnect
your electricity.

IIRC, they make a pump of the same configuration that's bigger than
what I have 1/2HP instead of 1/3, or 1/3 instead of 1/4. *I keep
meaning to replace mine. * I also keep looking for a basepump, but
I've decided after years that all of the ones on Ebay will be almost
as expensive as new.

I wonder how much of the roof water goes into his basement
sump pit? If it's all of it or most of it, I'm surprised that he
hasn't
had a flood even with the pump running. It depends on his roof
area and the rain rate. But just looking at a gutter downspout
from any reasonable size roof, during a heavy downpour, it's
a hell of a lot of water. And you're gonna pump all that plus
some ground water too, througha 1 1/2" pipe?
As Bart Simpson would say, Ahye Karumba!

Sometimes you have to use a sump pump for some rainwater as
a last resort because of geography. But in his case, he has
a nice sloping backyard going down to a pond.... In the house
I grew up in, we had a gravity drain that went several hundred
feet down to the flood plain of a creek. It was more work, more
install cost, etc, but far more reliable than a sump pump. And
our roof water didn't go into it....

On Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:10:26 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Apr 29, 8:57*pm, micky wrote:
On Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:14:40 -0400, micky
wrote:



If most of the roof water goes to the sump pump, I'm
suprised it can even handle it during a downpour.

I came home one day and found my sump pump runing full blast and still
the basement floor was flooded. Just a little bit but the entire floor
and not deep because all the boxes on the floor had sucked up lots of
water. * * *Much** of the water from my downspouts goes indirectly
into my sump pump but it takes hours or days to get there. *It's not
piped direct ly into the sump pump, like Craig's is.. **And much of
the water from the roof and downspouts seeps to the edge of my
property and into the stream bed on two sides of my house.

I was thinking about what I wrote here. * It probably doesn't take
days for water, on top of the current water table, to get from the
backt of the house to the front.

What I do, and the OP can do, is look at the water level in the sump
when it's not raining. * *I always have a little water, but it's
almost 2 feet below the basement floor.

Then look when and after it's been raining. * *My sump pump goes on
and t hen stops for 5 minutes, or more or less. * *That one time it
was runnning constantly, and even then that might have been enough to
keep up with the water if the water input had been less. * *I've had
flooded basements for various reasons, and the water level never gets
above 1/8", and only once has it gotten out of the laundry room. *I
glued a piece of wood in the doorway, so it won't get out of the
laundry room again, but it is a big sign when I sell the house that
I've had flooding, even if I've solved all the reasons it flooded. Oh,
well.

But none of this helps when there is a power failure, or pump failure,
or you're out of town for a long time and had forgotten to pay the
electric bill so you were behind before you left,l and they disconnect
your electricity.

IIRC, they make a pump of the same configuration that's bigger than
what I have 1/2HP instead of 1/3, or 1/3 instead of 1/4. *I keep
meaning to replace mine. * I also keep looking for a basepump, but
I've decided after years that all of the ones on Ebay will be almost
as expensive as new.

I wonder how much of the roof water goes into his basement
sump pit? If it's all of it or most of it, I'm surprised that he
hasn't
had a flood even with the pump running. It depends on his roof
area and the rain rate. But just looking at a gutter downspout
from any reasonable size roof, during a heavy downpour, it's
a hell of a lot of water. And you're gonna pump all that plus
some ground water too, througha 1 1/2" pipe?
As Bart Simpson would say, Ahye Karumba!

Sometimes you have to use a sump pump for some rainwater as
a last resort because of geography. But in his case, he has
a nice sloping backyard going down to a pond.... In the house
I grew up in, we had a gravity drain that went several hundred
feet down to the flood plain of a creek. It was more work, more
install cost, etc, but far more reliable than a sump pump. And
our roof water didn't go into it....

Absolutely. He should fix this.

On Apr 30, 10:40*am, micky wrote:
On Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:10:26 -0700 (PDT), "





wrote:
On Apr 29, 8:57*pm, micky wrote:
On Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:14:40 -0400, micky
wrote:

If most of the roof water goes to the sump pump, I'm
suprised it can even handle it during a downpour.

I came home one day and found my sump pump runing full blast and still
the basement floor was flooded. Just a little bit but the entire floor
and not deep because all the boxes on the floor had sucked up lots of
water. * * *Much** of the water from my downspouts goes indirectly
into my sump pump but it takes hours or days to get there. *It's not
piped direct ly into the sump pump, like Craig's is.. **And much of
the water from the roof and downspouts seeps to the edge of my
property and into the stream bed on two sides of my house.

I was thinking about what I wrote here. * It probably doesn't take
days for water, on top of the current water table, to get from the
backt of the house to the front.

What I do, and the OP can do, is look at the water level in the sump
when it's not raining. * *I always have a little water, but it's
almost 2 feet below the basement floor.

Then look when and after it's been raining. * *My sump pump goes on
and t hen stops for 5 minutes, or more or less. * *That one time it
was runnning constantly, and even then that might have been enough to
keep up with the water if the water input had been less. * *I've had
flooded basements for various reasons, and the water level never gets
above 1/8", and only once has it gotten out of the laundry room. *I
glued a piece of wood in the doorway, so it won't get out of the
laundry room again, but it is a big sign when I sell the house that
I've had flooding, even if I've solved all the reasons it flooded. Oh,
well.

But none of this helps when there is a power failure, or pump failure,
or you're out of town for a long time and had forgotten to pay the
electric bill so you were behind before you left,l and they disconnect
your electricity.

IIRC, they make a pump of the same configuration that's bigger than
what I have 1/2HP instead of 1/3, or 1/3 instead of 1/4. *I keep
meaning to replace mine. * I also keep looking for a basepump, but
I've decided after years that all of the ones on Ebay will be almost
as expensive as new.

I wonder how much of the roof water goes into his basement
sump pit? *If it's all of it or most of it, I'm surprised that he
hasn't
had a flood even with the pump running. * It depends on his roof
area and the rain rate. *But just looking at a gutter downspout
from any reasonable size roof, during a heavy downpour, it's
a hell of a lot of water. *And you're gonna pump all that plus
some ground water too, througha 1 1/2" pipe?
As Bart Simpson would say, Ahye Karumba!

Sometimes you have to use a sump pump for some rainwater as
a last resort because of geography. *But in his case, he has
a nice sloping backyard going down to a pond.... *In the house
I grew up in, we had a gravity drain that went several hundred
feet down to the flood plain of a creek. *It was more work, more
install cost, etc, but far more reliable than a sump pump. *And
our roof water didn't go into it....

Absolutely. *He should fix this.

gravity drain to daylight is always a better choice, even if its a
overflow drain.

years ago we had a hurricane come thru pittsburgh, it knocked out
power for many, including those using sump pumps.

one neighbor prevented a flood by bucket bailing for 24 hours. I
suggested a siphon since his home sits well over the street level...

for unknown reasons he refused to consider a gravity drain till the
next storm, he and his family were on vacation, the flood ruined his
basement that had just been remodeled, after that I noted digging had
occured, when I asked him about it he wasnt happy and swore under his
breathe......

kinda like the neighbor who mounted his dish to the chimney, I told
that fellow I was a dish dealer and the chimne was a poor choice, the
pan acts like a sail and can bring down a chimney.... he said antennas
always go on the chimney....

within a month a big storm came thru and took out his chimney the
falling bricks damaged his deck and deck stuff..

his dish went on his deck where it should of gone from day one

On Apr 30, 11:19*am, bob haller wrote:
On Apr 30, 10:40*am, micky wrote:





On Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:10:26 -0700 (PDT), "

wrote:
On Apr 29, 8:57*pm, micky wrote:
On Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:14:40 -0400, micky
wrote:

If most of the roof water goes to the sump pump, I'm
suprised it can even handle it during a downpour.

I came home one day and found my sump pump runing full blast and still
the basement floor was flooded. Just a little bit but the entire floor
and not deep because all the boxes on the floor had sucked up lots of
water. * * *Much** of the water from my downspouts goes indirectly
into my sump pump but it takes hours or days to get there. *It's not
piped direct ly into the sump pump, like Craig's is.. **And much of
the water from the roof and downspouts seeps to the edge of my
property and into the stream bed on two sides of my house.

I was thinking about what I wrote here. * It probably doesn't take
days for water, on top of the current water table, to get from the
backt of the house to the front.

What I do, and the OP can do, is look at the water level in the sump
when it's not raining. * *I always have a little water, but it's
almost 2 feet below the basement floor.

Then look when and after it's been raining. * *My sump pump goes on
and t hen stops for 5 minutes, or more or less. * *That one time it
was runnning constantly, and even then that might have been enough to
keep up with the water if the water input had been less. * *I've had
flooded basements for various reasons, and the water level never gets
above 1/8", and only once has it gotten out of the laundry room. *I
glued a piece of wood in the doorway, so it won't get out of the
laundry room again, but it is a big sign when I sell the house that
I've had flooding, even if I've solved all the reasons it flooded. Oh,
well.

But none of this helps when there is a power failure, or pump failure,
or you're out of town for a long time and had forgotten to pay the
electric bill so you were behind before you left,l and they disconnect
your electricity.

IIRC, they make a pump of the same configuration that's bigger than
what I have 1/2HP instead of 1/3, or 1/3 instead of 1/4. *I keep
meaning to replace mine. * I also keep looking for a basepump, but
I've decided after years that all of the ones on Ebay will be almost
as expensive as new.

I wonder how much of the roof water goes into his basement
sump pit? *If it's all of it or most of it, I'm surprised that he
hasn't
had a flood even with the pump running. * It depends on his roof
area and the rain rate. *But just looking at a gutter downspout
from any reasonable size roof, during a heavy downpour, it's
a hell of a lot of water. *And you're gonna pump all that plus
some ground water too, througha 1 1/2" pipe?
As Bart Simpson would say, Ahye Karumba!

Sometimes you have to use a sump pump for some rainwater as
a last resort because of geography. *But in his case, he has
a nice sloping backyard going down to a pond.... *In the house
I grew up in, we had a gravity drain that went several hundred
feet down to the flood plain of a creek. *It was more work, more
install cost, etc, but far more reliable than a sump pump. *And
our roof water didn't go into it....

Absolutely. *He should fix this.

gravity drain to daylight is always a better choice, even if its a
overflow drain.

years ago we had a hurricane come thru pittsburgh, it knocked out
power for many, including those using sump pumps.

one neighbor prevented a flood by bucket bailing for 24 hours. I
suggested a siphon since his home sits well over the street level...

for unknown reasons he refused to consider a gravity drain till the
next storm, he and his family were on vacation, the flood ruined his
basement that had just been remodeled, after that I noted digging had
occured, when I asked him about it he wasnt happy and swore under his
breathe......

kinda like the neighbor who mounted his dish to the chimney, I told
that fellow I was a dish dealer and the chimne was a poor choice, the
pan acts like a sail and can bring down a chimney.... he said antennas
always go on the chimney....

within a month a big storm came thru and took out his chimney the
falling bricks damaged his deck and deck stuff..

his dish went on his deck where it should of gone from day one- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Some people just have to learn the hard way....

Reminds me of the time I was living in a condo that was new
construction. Sump pumps were "optional" even though
there is no question they were needed. Some time after
closing I discovered that the discharge pipe from mine
ended just short of the sidewalk outside, buried in the soil,
instead of continuing another 25 ft over to a swale.

So, no worry, it's part of the outside and the condo assoc.
problem, not mine. So, they were fixing it. My previous
digging had established that not only was mine going
nowhere, so was the one from my neighbor in the
adjoining unit. They were built like mirror images, so
his pump was near mine.

So, I show him how his ends underground in the dirt.
He's like, "Isn't it supposed to be like that? " You'd
have to be a bird brain to think that you can just end
a pipe a foot underground and pump volumes of water
out. But I couldn't get the point across and instead of
having his taken care of while they were doing mine,
he just went on his merry way. Don't know if the
basement ever flooded, but I would bet it did.

On Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:34:59 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Apr 30, 11:19*am, bob haller wrote:
On Apr 30, 10:40*am, micky wrote:





On Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:10:26 -0700 (PDT), "

wrote:
On Apr 29, 8:57*pm, micky wrote:
On Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:14:40 -0400, micky
wrote:

If most of the roof water goes to the sump pump, I'm
suprised it can even handle it during a downpour.

I came home one day and found my sump pump runing full blast and still
the basement floor was flooded. Just a little bit but the entire floor
and not deep because all the boxes on the floor had sucked up lots of
water. * * *Much** of the water from my downspouts goes indirectly
into my sump pump but it takes hours or days to get there. *It's not
piped direct ly into the sump pump, like Craig's is.. **And much of
the water from the roof and downspouts seeps to the edge of my
property and into the stream bed on two sides of my house.

I was thinking about what I wrote here. * It probably doesn't take
days for water, on top of the current water table, to get from the
backt of the house to the front.

What I do, and the OP can do, is look at the water level in the sump
when it's not raining. * *I always have a little water, but it's
almost 2 feet below the basement floor.

Then look when and after it's been raining. * *My sump pump goes on
and t hen stops for 5 minutes, or more or less. * *That one time it
was runnning constantly, and even then that might have been enough to
keep up with the water if the water input had been less. * *I've had
flooded basements for various reasons, and the water level never gets
above 1/8", and only once has it gotten out of the laundry room. *I
glued a piece of wood in the doorway, so it won't get out of the
laundry room again, but it is a big sign when I sell the house that
I've had flooding, even if I've solved all the reasons it flooded. Oh,
well.

But none of this helps when there is a power failure, or pump failure,
or you're out of town for a long time and had forgotten to pay the
electric bill so you were behind before you left,l and they disconnect
your electricity.

IIRC, they make a pump of the same configuration that's bigger than
what I have 1/2HP instead of 1/3, or 1/3 instead of 1/4. *I keep
meaning to replace mine. * I also keep looking for a basepump, but
I've decided after years that all of the ones on Ebay will be almost
as expensive as new.

I wonder how much of the roof water goes into his basement
sump pit? *If it's all of it or most of it, I'm surprised that he
hasn't
had a flood even with the pump running. * It depends on his roof
area and the rain rate. *But just looking at a gutter downspout
from any reasonable size roof, during a heavy downpour, it's
a hell of a lot of water. *And you're gonna pump all that plus
some ground water too, througha 1 1/2" pipe?
As Bart Simpson would say, Ahye Karumba!

Sometimes you have to use a sump pump for some rainwater as
a last resort because of geography. *But in his case, he has
a nice sloping backyard going down to a pond.... *In the house
I grew up in, we had a gravity drain that went several hundred
feet down to the flood plain of a creek. *It was more work, more
install cost, etc, but far more reliable than a sump pump. *And
our roof water didn't go into it....

Absolutely. *He should fix this.

Arnie, start he

gravity drain to daylight is always a better choice, even if its a
overflow drain.

years ago we had a hurricane come thru pittsburgh, it knocked out
power for many, including those using sump pumps.

one neighbor prevented a flood by bucket bailing for 24 hours. I
suggested a siphon since his home sits well over the street level...

Is there a practical upper limit to the diameter of a siphon?

Is there a way to make a siphon of any diameter start automatically
when water level gets high enough, or do you have to be there to start
it?

I've used a small diameter garden hose as a siphon, but I'm not sure I
could get a bigger diameter to work.

When I was in college, our apartment bathroom had separate hot and
cold faucets, and the hot water was too hot to use. They sold mixers
at the hardware store, but because the two faucets were "pigeon toed",
the mixer wouldn't stay on. I twisted each faucet a little to make
them closer to straight, especially the cold water. A few days
later, the cold water started to leak under the sink.

Put a bucket under the leak, but what to do when the bucket filled up
an hour later. I could empty it but what about night time? I put
the waste basket upside down and put the bucket on it, then some
rubber tubing to make a siphon towards the toilet. A big soda straw
to go the last 8 inches, under the seat.

Not only did it siphon water out of the bucket, it turned out to be
self-regulating, and would siphon faster when the bucket was more
nearly full, and slower when it was more nearly empty. So it required
no attention at all and siphoned for 5 days until the plumber came.

Oh, I put a washcloth along the path of the leak so we did't have to
listen to that either.

for unknown reasons he refused to consider a gravity drain till the
next storm, he and his family were on vacation, the flood ruined his
basement that had just been remodeled, after that I noted digging had
occured, when I asked him about it he wasnt happy and swore under his
breathe......

kinda like the neighbor who mounted his dish to the chimney, I told
that fellow I was a dish dealer and the chimne was a poor choice, the
pan acts like a sail and can bring down a chimney.... he said antennas
always go on the chimney....

within a month a big storm came thru and took out his chimney the
falling bricks damaged his deck and deck stuff..

his dish went on his deck where it should of gone from day one- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Some people just have to learn the hard way....

Reminds me of the time I was living in a condo that was new
construction. Sump pumps were "optional" even though
there is no question they were needed. Some time after
closing I discovered that the discharge pipe from mine
ended just short of the sidewalk outside, buried in the soil,
instead of continuing another 25 ft over to a swale.

So, no worry, it's part of the outside and the condo assoc.
problem, not mine. So, they were fixing it. My previous
digging had established that not only was mine going
nowhere, so was the one from my neighbor in the
adjoining unit. They were built like mirror images, so
his pump was near mine.

So, I show him how his ends underground in the dirt.
He's like, "Isn't it supposed to be like that? " You'd
have to be a bird brain to think that you can just end
a pipe a foot underground and pump volumes of water
out. But I couldn't get the point across and instead of
having his taken care of while they were doing mine,
he just went on his merry way. Don't know if the
basement ever flooded, but I would bet it did.

-- End here.

leakage problems are the most worst problems it ruins the beauty of your home you should take care of all these leaking issues and make sure they all are be fix on time.
http://www.pondpro2000.com/epdm-pond-liner.html