A strange side-effect of the storm last night...

[J-rap]

We had a bad storm with high winds last night.  It took down our neighbor's giant tree which fell into our yard (fortunately hit nothing important), and a strong, metal pole out front snapped in half.  

 

Strangely, when we went upstairs to get ready for bed, we found the little rug around the bottom of the toilet soaked, with some parts muddy.  The only thing we can think of is that the sewers backed up momentarily during the storm and water came up out of the toilet.  It also lies right next to a heat vent though, and that's the side the mud is mostly on.  (But I can't imagine how the heat vent would be involved.)  

 

No problems in our other bathroom or anywhere else in the house.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Glad that wasn't too bad overall. 

 

We had a nasty storm very early on (4 am ish).  By some miracle our basement didn't flood.

 

We finally broke down and bought a sum pump.  We keep trying to do some outside weather proofing at the foundation, but the weather is not cooperating so in the meantime we need something in case water gets in.  We plan to install that within the next two weeks which should be interesting (not).

 

Couple of weeks ago we had a nasty storm and a zillion trees were uprooted all over the city and especially the park up the street.  It was crazy! 

 

 

[J-rap]

Glad that wasn't too bad overall. 

 

We had a nasty storm very early on (4 am ish).  By some miracle our basement didn't flood.

 

We finally broke down and bought a sum pump.  We keep trying to do some outside weather proofing at the foundation, but the weather is not cooperating so in the meantime we need something in case water gets in.  We plan to install that within the next two weeks which should be interesting (not).

 

Couple of weeks ago we had a nasty storm and a zillion trees were uprooted all over the city and especially the park up the street.  It was crazy! 

 

Maybe we were on the same storm line...  

 

We used to get major flooding in our basement.  We finally had our yard landscaped so that all the ground that runs up against the house slopes downward, away from our house.  That helped a lot.  We did get a few puddles in our basement last night but nothing major.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Maybe we were on the same storm line...  

 

We used to get major flooding in our basement.  We finally had our yard landscaped so that all the ground that runs up against the house slopes downward, away from our house.  That helped a lot.  We did get a few puddles in our basement last night but nothing major.

 

We are very limited in terms of what we can do because we have about two feet of space between us and the neighbor's yard.  Just getting onto that side of the house is difficult to do anything.  Getting materials in that space to repave and water proof is freaking difficult.  Then our neighbor has this yappy mutt that just barks the entire time.  We can't do any of that if it is too hot, too humid, or too wet.  And that is the exact kind of weather we are getting day after day right now.  So best we can do at this point is deal with water if it comes in.  What is weird is there is no rhyme or reason to when it comes in or doesn't. 

 

To install proper drainage would probably involve having the house jacked up and the foundation reworked, and that would cost more than the house is worth so we just have to do some sort of good enough patch job.  Although this is something new.  We didn't have that kind of water coming in for many years and then suddenly now it's a problem. 

 

Good times. 

[J-rap]

We are very limited in terms of what we can do because we have about two feet of space between us and the neighbor's yard.  Just getting onto that side of the house is difficult to do anything.  Getting materials in that space to repave and water proof is freaking difficult.  Then our neighbor has this yappy mutt that just barks the entire time.  We can't do any of that if it is too hot, too humid, or too wet.  And that is the exact kind of weather we are getting day after day right now.  So best we can do at this point is deal with water if it comes in.  What is weird is there is no rhyme or reason to when it comes in or doesn't. 

 

To install proper drainage would probably involve having the house jacked up and the foundation reworked, and that would cost more than the house is worth so we just have to do some sort of good enough patch job.  Although this is something new.  We didn't have that kind of water coming in for many years and then suddenly now it's a problem. 

 

Good times. 

 

That's strange.  I'd guess that it has to do with the direction of the wind.  Maybe the winds have gradually changed in your area...  not sure how that works.  Our basement is unfinished so it's not a huge deal when a little rain gets in.  We mostly use it as storage, but have everything up a little off the ground.

[BlsdMama]

We had a bad storm with high winds last night.  It took down our neighbor's giant tree which fell into our yard (fortunately hit nothing important), and a strong, metal pole out front snapped in half.  

 

Strangely, when we went upstairs to get ready for bed, we found the little rug around the bottom of the toilet soaked, with some parts muddy.  The only thing we can think of is that the sewers backed up momentarily during the storm and water came up out of the toilet.  It also lies right next to a heat vent though, and that's the side the mud is mostly on.  (But I can't imagine how the heat vent would be involved.)  

 

No problems in our other bathroom or anywhere else in the house.

 

That's so odd?  Is there mud under the rim of the toilet where it might have backed up?  Yes, I can't think how the heat vent would be involved because that just goes to the furnace...  You live in town right?  So you don't have to worry that the tree coming up ripped out your septic lines or something like that, right?

 

The fact that it's the upstairs toilet is just weird.  I would have assumed ground level first but I'm certainly not a plumber.... I don't even play one on TV.

 

We are very limited in terms of what we can do because we have about two feet of space between us and the neighbor's yard.  Just getting onto that side of the house is difficult to do anything.  Getting materials in that space to repave and water proof is freaking difficult.  Then our neighbor has this yappy mutt that just barks the entire time.  We can't do any of that if it is too hot, too humid, or too wet.  And that is the exact kind of weather we are getting day after day right now.  So best we can do at this point is deal with water if it comes in.  What is weird is there is no rhyme or reason to when it comes in or doesn't. 

 

To install proper drainage would probably involve having the house jacked up and the foundation reworked, and that would cost more than the house is worth so we just have to do some sort of good enough patch job.  Although this is something new.  We didn't have that kind of water coming in for many years and then suddenly now it's a problem. 

 

Good times. 

 

Do you ever talk to your neighbor?  Does he have the same problem?  The big question, if you both live in a low lying area - does his dirt around his house foundation slope away from his house?  Because, if yours is flat and his slopes (as it should) when the water runs off the house, you get the water running towards your foundation from both his house AND  your house.  If it's relatively flat between your house and his house, then he's probably getting water in his basement too -- which might make him open to the idea of splitting the cost of something like a french drain.  If you pop over to pinterest and type in "french drain slope" you can see what I'm talking about.  We've been working on our basement - It's a great basement but we've gotten water from two areas and both were caused by slope and lack of drainage.  We fixed one simply by building up dirt around our foundation and sloping away from the house.  The other one is requiring a french drain.  It's a bit of work but well worth it - water in the house can be potentially damaging, not to mention increasing your risk for mold.

[SparklyUnicorn]

 

 

 

Do you ever talk to your neighbor?  Does he have the same problem?  The big question, if you both live in a low lying area - does his dirt around his house foundation slope away from his house?  Because, if yours is flat and his slopes (as it should) when the water runs off the house, you get the water running towards your foundation from both his house AND  your house.  If it's relatively flat between your house and his house, then he's probably getting water in his basement too -- which might make him open to the idea of splitting the cost of something like a french drain.  If you pop over to pinterest and type in "french drain slope" you can see what I'm talking about.  We've been working on our basement - It's a great basement but we've gotten water from two areas and both were caused by slope and lack of drainage.  We fixed one simply by building up dirt around our foundation and sloping away from the house.  The other one is requiring a french drain.  It's a bit of work but well worth it - water in the house can be potentially damaging, not to mention increasing your risk for mold.

 

It's just not possible due to the way the houses are situated.  It needs to be dug further away from the side of our house (and her house) than is possible.  The houses are too close together. 

 

We are on a slight hill so dealing with it is also challenging there, but there is nothing we can do about the fact we are on a slight hill.  Basically the drainage that is there need to be reworked, repaved, resealed, etc, but it's challenging to get it done because at the moment the weather is not cooperating.  You can't do any of that if it is raining, very humid, or very hot. 

 

Our house is nearly 100 years old and I'm sure on and off there have been issues.  It is what it is, but yes we are aware that it's not ideal.  It's just situated in such a way that doesn't make certain things doable (at least not without a cost that is not only ridiculous but not worthwhile).