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my FINISHED basement flooded


Bogeywon

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8 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

Grandparents in North Texas, not too far from the RR, had a "storm cellar", which was a big cement walled rectangular hole in the ground next to the house. It had a heavy ass, countered-balanced door that opened upward at ground level and could be triple bolted shut from the inside. (Similar to the opening scene in Twister).They kept candles and water down there. I'd work summers on their farm as a kid, and my first job of the summer would be to clean out all the spiders, scorpions, centipedes, and occasional snake out of that hot, claustrophobic hell hole, then shop vac the six inches or so water that would build up in there over the winter. We'd all end up in it a one or two times per summer on average when the tornado alarm would go off.

 

Those are common here, especially old farm houses whose foundations weren't poured concrete.  My aunt and uncle had one when I was little and it was about as nasty as you described.

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When my buddy moved to Dallas and told me no one has basements, I was floored for that very reason.  I figured everyone in tornado alley had a basement for obvious reasons.  Seems like the cut off line is somewhere in Oklahoma (my cousin had a basement in Tulsa, so they're that far south).  Apparently has something to do with the soil/bedrock. Another cousin built a house this past year (in Iowa) that had no basement.  They have a cement walled pantry in the middle of the house that doubles as a storm shelter.  I'm assuming most homes in Texas have this feature, or something like it?

 

The only homes I know that had basements in Oklahoma were built in the 30's. Mine didn't have one, but did have a concrete storm shelter under the house. We had a finished basement in our house in Denver and it seems like most others did too. 

 

I had to deal with a sump pump in a prior home and it was always a pain in the ass.

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2 hours ago, Okie State said:

The only homes I know that had basements in Oklahoma were built in the 30's. Mine didn't have one, but did have a concrete storm shelter under the house. We had a finished basement in our house in Denver and it seems like most others did too. 

 

I had to deal with a sump pump in a prior home and it was always a pain in the ass.

Our current sump has what’s called a Beaver system.  It’s extra tile around the house that runs groundwater straight into the sump.  This keeps my basement totally dry until the city backs up through the floor drain.  The real solution is to put a second sump pit (and pump) next to the floor drain to catch that.

If the OP is getting water through the foundation, I’d go Beaver.  It’s always protected us.

If his city sewer is the problem, go second sump

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On 10/3/2018 at 4:23 PM, Al_4_ISU said:

When my buddy moved to Dallas and told me no one has basements, I was floored for that very reason.  I figured everyone in tornado alley had a basement for obvious reasons.  Seems like the cut off line is somewhere in Oklahoma (my cousin had a basement in Tulsa, so they're that far south).  Apparently has something to do with the soil/bedrock.

Another cousin built a house this past year (in Iowa) that had no basement.  They have a cement walled pantry in the middle of the house that doubles as a storm shelter.  I'm assuming most homes in Texas have this feature, or something like it?

yeah, i live in Dallas and we have mini basement and it's a fucking stupid idea because the water comes up from the ground when it rains a ton.  It's a flagstone floor and our water heater and HVAC are down there.  The dipshits that built it did not grade the floor or barring that they did not place the sump pump hole in the lowest part of the basement.  So water will seep up from this one area next to the piers, pool and then eventually overflow into the basement.  Then it avoids the sump pump and pools over in the back corner.  most of the time i can run a garden hose siphon down directly to the sump pump and avoid any flooding.

need to put one of those water bug things where the water pools next to the piers and be done with it.

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Our current sump has what’s called a Beaver system.  It’s extra tile around the house that runs groundwater straight into the sump.  This keeps my basement totally dry until the city backs up through the floor drain.  The real solution is to put a second sump pit (and pump) next to the floor drain to catch that.
If the OP is getting water through the foundation, I’d go Beaver.  It’s always protected us.
If his city sewer is the problem, go second sump
We have basements here, and I'm a big fan of Beaver.
Aren’t we all?
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