Flooding: water in your basement (wood floors, apartment, rental)

[Mike Aimer]

I don't think that's the same thing as what I'm thinking of. Sounds more like what my folks had to do when the tree roots would make the shower drains and toilets back up in their house. I don't think we have a tree root problem. We just have water (and nasty water at that) that comes up through the floor drains if the city sewers back up. When it happened to us last time, it happened to just about every house on the block. I think it's when the city doesn't open the locks in time, but I'm not sure.

Thanks for your reply though! Hope we can both solve our problems. Hope the drain tiles work out well for you. I'd like to get them too someday, but we don't have the $$. We're trying to address the issue any way we can think of until then.

[ParkerP]

I had the sewer backup last year and had a check valve installed to keep that crap out. I used a company called Van Der Bosch plumbing. They aren't the cheapest but they aren't the most expensive either and they do really good work. Haven't had any backup issues since. However, I'm still leery of even bothering to finish my basement. Maybe I'll just add an enclosed porch to the back of the house and make that the entertainment space.

[quigboto]

I was lucky and we did not experience any flooding. It would be disastrous if we did, as my basement is my studio, and all of my musical equipment is down there.
My house is a relatively new construction (2001), so maybe they were smart and installed the plumbing with one of those check valves already on it. I don't know. So far in six years we've never had a problem. Sounded like my sump pump was working overtime that night though, so I should probably get a battery back up for it just in case. As it is, my house suffered well over $15K in damages from the hailstorm that we had on the 27th, so a flooded basement would have just sent me over the edge...

[Chicago60614]

My friends and I were all fine, although one of my friend's said a girl he knew had a huge mess on her hands.

Deep tunnel isn't finished yet, and that rain was around 7" to 8" in the city in a matter of 3-4 hours. It beat the all-time 24-hour record rainfall in just a few hours. Certainly the worst of the worst.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by Mike Aimer

I don't think that's the same thing as what I'm thinking of. Sounds more like what my folks had to do when the tree roots would make the shower drains and toilets back up in their house. I don't think we have a tree root problem. We just have water (and nasty water at that) that comes up through the floor drains if the city sewers back up. When it happened to us last time, it happened to just about every house on the block. I think it's when the city doesn't open the locks in time, but I'm not sure.

Thanks for your reply though! Hope we can both solve our problems. Hope the drain tiles work out well for you. I'd like to get them too someday, but we don't have the $$. We're trying to address the issue any way we can think of until then.

oh right, just figured the company mentioned might be able to do the work you need - I"m making a note of the company quoted above as well!

[Mike Aimer]

Right, thanks Chi-town!

And thank you Parker P for your input as well!

[sydbarrett]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

Deep tunnel isn't finished yet

No it is not, but a large portion of it is operational.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by sydbarrett

No it is not, but a large portion of it is operational.

True - I think the issue with Deep Tunnel is just whether it was originally designed to cope with the increasingly chaotic weather systems moving through the area.

It is most assuredly not normal to get these freakishly intense rainstorms so regularly, people I know who have lived in one place for decades and never had basement flooding are having problems.

Stormwater management, permeable pavers/alleys, etc., are what we need moving forward. Can't just keep paving over the City with concrete and asphalt and then act surprised when the water has no where to go.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

True - I think the issue with Deep Tunnel is just whether it was originally designed to cope with the increasingly chaotic weather systems moving through the area.

It is most assuredly not normal to get these freakishly intense rainstorms so regularly, people I know who have lived in one place for decades and never had basement flooding are having problems.

Stormwater management, permeable pavers/alleys, etc., are what we need moving forward. Can't just keep paving over the City with concrete and asphalt and then act surprised when the water has no where to go.

My building is on a permeable alley. It's amazing to watch our drain efficiently while other alleys are like rivers.

[tomcho]

I've never had a problem in the 8 years I've lived in this house. My neighbors across the street and next door have had multiple floods. I'm very lucky in having correct grading(my house sits noticeably higher than my garage) and an effective weeping system. My sump pump was running pretty much every 10 minutes during the worst of the most recent storm. Battery back up systems are critical as typically the worst storms tend to lead to power outages.

I have an old coworker friend who now has his own company installing back up systems. If you want their info shoot me a PM.