By:Monte Leeper
Q.
My basement gets one to two inches of H2O when the streets gets flooded and the water comes and touches the front of the house. I have a sump pump in my crawl space and sometimes I hear noise. It is working, but seldom. Vulcan wanted to put a sump pump in the basement by digging all around the floor. Would that help? This happens once or twice every 4-5 years and the water level is only one to two inches deep.
A.
From your description, you have a basement and a crawl space. You also have a street that floods and your house seems to be at a level only a few inches above the street, so you have different problems to address. Obviously, you cannot change the flooding condition in the street, although I wonder about the storm water system and whether it affects other neighboring properties. If so, the issue should be taken up with the local streets and highways department.
As for the crawl space, you do not sound concerned about two inches of water in the space. I would be concerned just because water standing in a crawl space can cause rot, mold, insect infestation and vermin, such as mice and rats, to make your home into their own personal health club, or, in this case, an un-health club. Check the perimeter of the house for low spots. Planting beds should be well below the top of the foundation wall and should not be touching the siding. Make sure the planting beds slope away on all sides of the house.
Also, make certain that the rain gutters and downspouts are directing water away from the foundation, and look for openings in the upper walls and foundation walls that need sealing or curbing to divert the rain away.
As for the basement, water seepage is preventable before construction with several methods of sealant. If it is possible, check to see if a black substance was applied to the foundation wall by digging down even a few inches. If not, dig further. If you still don't find anything, the exterior foundation walls need sealing.
The trench drain method recommended to you is the last resort. It does work, but only after all other reasons have been eliminated. Generally, the water problem is not caused by seepage from ground water. Cutting your basement floor is like putting a hole in the bottom of a boat. Try everything else first.
