Flooded Basements

[Rockslinger]

Remember that big storm last Sunday (some parts of the city got 88mm of rain)? Well, CTV NEWS have been running stories about flooded basements and how some insurance companies won't pay up while others did. How is your basement?

P.S. If you have an adult son living in the basement, is he still there? Hee, hee, hee.

 

[CUPID]

My basement flooded during the rain storm that hit Union station really hard. It was like there was a faucet in my wall. Looked up someone from Homestars.com to come over and they unveiled a monster of issues with my sewage pipe, foundation and such. Since then I have been dealing with contractor nightmares.
The costs:
Around $7000 for the plumbing issues (insurance wont cover)
Around $15,000 for the foundation issues (insurance wont cover)
$500 for the insurance deductible to re-do the damaged parts and mold removal of my basement with a resorting company

 

[Hurricane Hank]

Isn't the city responsible for things like your sewage pipe?

 

[thailover]

i had a small little puddle in my basment

 

[OddSox]

This causes their water to flow up into your basement.

Of course, proving it is their water is another story altogether.

 

[oldjones]

And of course you'll have a better shot at being happy with your insurance if you chat before the storm about how much money you're sinking into that 'never meant to be a finished space below the water table' basement.

 

[Rockslinger]

They say that was a once in a hundred year storm so we are good for the next 99 years. Our infrastructure is too old (e.g. Gardiner) and also was never meant to handle the volume of an 88 mm storm.

 

[james t kirk]

A simple solution would be to install a backflow preventer on the main sanitary drain line.

If sewage were to back up up your sanitary sewer, the backflow preventer would prevent it from flooding the basement.

Leaky foundation walls are an entirely different issue.

 

[lurker_]

Built-in sludge pump in my house for these cases... Can't be too sure, but I guess my paranoia was right. Who's laughing now?

 

[harryass]

so when your place gets flooded, what does them scam insurance cover anyway? a kids plastic shovel and beach pail? sounds like the insurance covers next to nothin.

 

[Rockslinger]

If sewage were to back up up your sanitary sewer, the backflow preventer would prevent it from flooding the basement.

In that case, where does the excess water go? It has to go somewhere.

 

[shrek71]

In that case, where does the excess water go? It has to go somewhere.

Better outside your house than inside. No?

 

[james t kirk]

In that case, where does the excess water go? It has to go somewhere.

You prevent it from coming into the house via the sanitary drain. Picture sewage (shit, piss, toilet paper, blood and guts from slaughter houses, hospitals, you name it) blasting out of your floor drains in your basement, or your shower in the basement, or your toilet in the basement and filling your basement. It can and does happen under the right circumstances (plugged sanitary sewer in the street (seen that one myself once), or heavy rains with combined sanitary and storm systems).

Here is a link:

http://www.backwatervalve.ca/overview-design.html

 

[gar]

In the last couple of basement dig outs I've been involved with, the backflow preventor was mandatory. One small problem is access to the backflow preventor, you'll have to make accomodations with the finish floor for an access panel.

 

[Moraff]

In that case, where does the excess water go? It has to go somewhere.

Same as when you install theft deterrants in your home, you want the water/thieves to go to someone else's home

 

[james t kirk]

In the last couple of basement dig outs I've been involved with, the backflow preventor was mandatory. One small problem is access to the backflow preventor, you'll have to make accomodations with the finish floor for an access panel.

Because as you lower a basement floor, it becomes far more possible to flood a basement in a major rain event via the sanitary sewer.

The access can definitely be an issue. Also, if you are lowering a basement, you have the issue if you dig below the sanitary drain. Then you need an ejector pump and who wants that in your house. (One option may be to install a vault outside your house. Then you don't have to worry about smell, and you can access it from outside.)

 

[oldjones]

Below ground is not generally regarded as a preferred place to live and spend time. Not by most people. You're likely only being seduced into finishing that basement because it's cheap—already there, just needs cosmetics. Adding the same space anywhere else would be an expensive build, and cost you in all sorts of non-monetary ways as well.

Buy so will doing the basement if you cheap on the stuff it needs to turn it into a truly livable space. That means first of all, no water except where and when you want it. Your choice is either—nothing on the floor or in the first four feet up that will be damaged by being soaked. Nothing. Ever. A dutchman recently demonstrated his waterproof basement technique by floating one of his houses in the Zuider Zee. No one has yet made that a standard. Even poured concrete, absorbs water and passes it into the nearest empty space. Your basement.

Or, get some sort of realistic guarantee—and the insurance that makes up for what it doesn't cover—that water can't and won't come in thru the walls or the floor, that poo-poo water won't come up the sewers, and the the water you put in the air won't feed mould behind your water-affected drywall (a plaster-type product that dissolves in water). Particularly problematic in summer. Maybe a second-floor addition isn't so much more expensive after all. At least it's above the water-table and only gets wett from one direction.

We learned all that stuff about water underground the last time we lived in caves. It's why we moved out.

 

[lurkerdick]

If you're in Scarborough, the councillors are investigating if it's a city issue and compensation will be had.

 

[Rockslinger]

If you're in Scarborough, the councillors are investigating if it's a city issue and compensation will be had.

I heard compensation is capped at $1,500. One guy said his damage is $50,000 and his insurance won't pay. His home office was in the basement.

 

[james t kirk]

Insurance is a funny thing. (I know, I've had a lot of issues with my home insurance.)

I know for a FACT, I have a 50,000 rider for a backed up sewer. Now, just sitting here thinking about it, the one thing I DON'T know if the insurance company considers this the same thing as would be the case IF there was a major rain event and the effluent in the city sewer had a sufficient pressure head so as to blast up from my floor drain.

Is this the same as a backed up sewer?

Insurerers are fuckers because they won't tell you what they will not cover when they are selling you, only what they will cover and then it's all subject to interpretation isn't it. They could easily provide you with a list of what they will NOT cover, but they won't because you'll read it and say, "hey, wait a minute - this thing you won't cover could happen"

As to the cost of a flooded basement - it could easily run 50k. In a heart beat. You get 2 feet of sewer effluent in your basement and you can write off your furnace, your washer, dryer, TV, finished floor, walls, electrical, you name it.