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April 16, 2007

"It's raining, it's pouring, I wish I was snoring..." (Another water question)


Like so many other people, my basement is flooding today. There are 2 problems:
-The basement/cellar opens onto the backyard, which has a drain at the lowest point, but today's rain has backed the drain up and now there is a quarter-inch of water standing up to the wall of the basement/cellar.
-This water is creeping in under the baseboards.

We just moved into this apartment, and (like idiots) didn't realize we should probably stay home during the first heavy rain since we've been here, so we came back today to a pretty well-flooded cellar floor. We dried it out, but now that the rain has picked up again, The water is seeping in, and we're holding it at bay with towels pressed against the baseboards that need constant wringing out.

So here are my two questions:

-Can anyone suggest a service that can fix the drain in the backyard, or at least diagnose what is wrong with it and suggest alternate solutions?
AND
-What is the best way to seal the basement wall so that water will not seep in from the yard even if it DOES flood? I actually just caulked between the baseboard and the floor because I thought ants could get in there, but the water doesn't seem to have noticed my efforts.

ANY ADVICE WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED,

-Clueless

Posted by anon at 1:16 AM | Comments (1)
Categories: Waterproofing

Comments

Is the drain clogged or is it backed up?

In other words, is the water not going down the drain because something is obstructing it, or is it because the drain level is below the water level of the drain or waste pipe?

If it's the former, call a plumber or maybe try a service such as Python Drain Cleaners.

Or get a snake from a plumbing supply for emergencies such as this. In a real pinch, you can take a length of BX cable, bend it twice to make a handle and use that as a snake cable.

If it's the latter, I'm not sure. Call a plumber for that one.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 16, 2007 1:29 AM

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