New York Renovator

I recently blogged about our (currently) dry basement. I can’t tell you how elated I am that is has been dry all winter. It is NO FUN to have sump pump pipes freeze during the winter, and to have to thaw pull apart the ump and pipes in freezing cold water. Brrrr.

We have had severe water problems on our property for seven of the ten years we have lived here. Much of it is due to negligent over-development, we think. Storm water problems have been afflicting the people of our township for several years, and it is no coincidence that there has been an enormous burst of uber-development of our suburban and rural areas during these same years.

We have two sump pumps in our basement sump well (some people have three now!), and in the past, these two pumps running simultaneously have not been able to alleviate the two or three feet of water that floods our basement. A sump pump is a motorized pump– a very powerful pump– that sucks up water through an opening and pumps it through a hose, where the water is dispersed. Our sump water flows through two flexible plastic pipes that run across the yard to a catch basin by the side of the street. It is an inconvenient system but we do not have the resources or time to excavate half the front yard to install pipes. The catch basin is insufficient for the amount of water we put in it, anyway. It has overflowed many times and spilled excess water onto the street and into our yard… and right back into our basement.

For minor flooding, sump pumps are sufficient to removing excess water. Many homes have small wells in the basement for this purpose. However, if your water problem is more severe, sump pumps are not going to solve the problem. I’ll be blogging about various things to do when a property has water problems.

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