Flooding Problems

[Jim]

Hey guys
I am going to be a bit tied up the rest of the day. I just watched the news and I knew we had a bad storm during the night and this morning but I did not know that we received between 3.5 and 4.25 inches of rain. I decided to check my basement and guess what??? I have about a foot of water.

[Cleo]

Look at it as a perk. Now you have an indoor wading pool.

[T Pat]

Flooding problems are on my agenda for this afternoon too Jim. I've had a small leak for a couple months No big thing a 60 year old boat is going to leak and that's what bilge pumps are for. It turned into a big leak yesterday two 500 gal an hour pumps are barely keeping up with it. So if I'm going to get any sleep tonight I best get my ass in the water and see what the problem is.

[Torn Rose]

Holy shit Tpat.... Sounds like it's close to abandon ship time.

[Jim]

Well thanks to my 20,000 gallon/hour pump, my basement is now empty. But, this is when the fun begins. I have about 3/4 of an inch of mud on the floor and none of the equipment is working.

[T Pat]

LOL Torn Can't abandon ship I still have 14 payments left.
I'm hopeing it's just a muscel or some other crustation growing between a couple of my planks

[Torn Rose]

Originally posted by TijuanaPat

I'm hopeing it's just a muscel or some other crustation growing between a couple of my planks

LOL.... better have a doctor look at that... maybe a shot can take care of it =o)

[Torn Rose]

Originally posted by Jim
I have about 3/4 of an inch of mud on the floor and none of the equipment is working.

the shovel and bucket broke down?

BTW, I don't envy you at this moment. that's one of the bad things about basements.

[T Pat]

Sounds like a job for a teenaged Son to me Jim

[dareutwo]

Unfortunately, I have way too much experience with this.

If your pumps can handle it, this is what we (our company) does.
Needed 2 outside faucets that work... and 2 garden hoses (100' helps).

TURN OFF ALL BREAKERS EXCEPT TO THE PRESSURE WASHER WHICH SHOULD BE PLUGGED IN FROM MAIN LEVEL AND NOT THE BASEMENT!

Take 1 hose and put a brick or something on it about 1.5' away from the intake of the pump, aimed directly at the pump so it doesn't syphon too much air and let it run.
Take hose 2 and connect to a pressure washer. (rent one, don't buy one)
Start in the furthest corner of the basement, and work from the outside walls in a circle in to the pump.

The pressure pump will clean the floor and the other line will dilute the mud enough to go through the pump.

With this setup up, I did a 40'x35' basement in about 2 hours.

Hope this helps... beats shoveling!

[Jim]

Thanks dareutwo
But I had a brand new problem. We had another storm about 4 hours ago. My electricity went out and the big electric pump stoped pumping. No problem, I will just start the big gas pump. I pulled on the rope and SNAP, the rope broke. By the time I got back home with a new rope and handle, another foot of water in the basement. My electricity turned on about an hour ago

[dareutwo]

MHO -
1 - Get another 100' of discharge hose for the pumps.
I've seen pics of your house, get the hose to reach as close to the pond (or anything further downhill) as you can.

2 - The ground is saturated - that may take a week or more to drain, even if no more rain is added.

3 - Pump what you can, with or without electricity.
I have 2 Honda generators (3000 watts) that each can run two pumps plus a few lights and stuff. The Coleman type things run fine in a pinch, but they don't seem to last more than a summer. Though I'm guessing that All the rental shops within 20 miles are out of generators.
Though if you're really creative, one of those Harley's can pump water with a belt off the back tire, but it may overheat

4 - Wait - and explain to the wife that nothing will help right now (easier said than done)
That's really all you can do.

Be Thankful that your electrician didn't place any wiring closer than 2 feet from the basement floor. (obviously you still have power - though I would still shut off all breakers to the basement)

The mud and junk will still be there on Friday or later.

I've been spending that past 2 weeks here...
Mostly monitoring... most houses need another week for water levels to decline.

Roseau MN Flood 2004

[Jim]

dareutwo
The whole flood thing sucks. I have good drainage that was dug up my the morons that built my pond. I have plenty of pumping equipment but...I was not ready for a power outage and the pull rope breaking on the gas pump. I have been doing this for almost 5 years now. Baring any unforeseen problems like today, I usually do OK.

[Cleo]

Maybe not having a basement is not such a bad thing. LOL