Flood!!

Our basement is flooded. It has been raining like crazy here and the sump pump gave it up. For the regular non US resident who doesn't know what a sump pump is, I will try to give a description. But don't expect much... Lucky for me and of course for you, there is something called Google.com.

Wikipedia says: 'A sump pump is a pump used to remove water that has accumulated in a sump pit. A sump pit, commonly found in the home basement, is simply a hole to collect water. The water may enter via the perimeter drains of a basement waterproofing system, funneling into the pit, or may arrive because of rain or because of natural ground water, if the basement is below the water table level. Sump pumps are installed particularly where basement flooding is seen as a problem, but are also used to ameliorate dampness where the water table is normally above the foundation of a home. Sump pumps send water away from a house to any place where it no longer presents a problem, such as a municipal storm drain or a dry well. Sump pumps are usually hardwired into a home's electrical system, and may have a battery backup. Some even use the home's pressurized water supply to power the pump, eliminating the need for electricity. Since a sump pit may overflow if not constantly pumped, a backup system is important for cases when the main power is out for prolonged periods of time. '

I actually do not expect you to understand a thing form this description, so don't worry about it. So we have a sump pit behind a door in the basement. Very strange to see. The water from rain or melting snow as we had in spring, is collected there and pumped out to somewhere outside the house. Why does it need to be collected at the first place, I don't know. It has to do with the 'basement waterproofing system'. And of course I have a description of that too:

'Basement waterproofing refers to techniques used to prevent water from entering the basement of a house or other building. Effective below ground waterproofing will include both drainage and sealers.
Waterproofing is needed anytime a structure is built at ground level or below ground. Waterproofing and drainage considerations are especially needed in cases where ground water is likely to build up in the soil and raise the watertable. This higher watertable causes hydrostatic pressure to be exerted underneath basement floors and against basement walls. Hydrostatic pressure forces water in through cracks in foundation walls, through opening caused by expansion and contraction of the footing-foundation wall joint and up through floor cracks. Hydrostatic pressure can cause major structural damage to foundation walls and is likely to contribute to mold, decay and other moisture related problems.'

As I said before, it has been raining like crazy here. The water level in the neighborhood was higher than usual. The swamp behind the house had a higher water level that even I could see. And of course, it just kept on raining.

Sunday we had friends over for dinner - I will come back to this. Visitors from the Netherlands deserve their special posting! - . We were showing them the house, the garden. Some parts of the garden close to the swamp was quite full of water. When you walked, you got wet feet. It was strange, we were always amazed how fast the garden was dry after each rain.

That evening we also realized that the sump pump was working continuously and pumping the water in the garden just outside the house. Well, we didn't really know where it was pumping the water before, so we thought it should have been that way all the time, but because of the heavy rain we realized it for the first time.

I got a bit worried though, if the ground water gets even higher, the pump will never have the chance to pump it outside and it just got the same water back in the pit anyway - that happens if you pump the water right in the garden. And it didn't stop raining, it was horrible weather. I sent a mail to the homeowner to ask if we should get worried especially since there was so much water in the garden. I even did a little research on the Internet and read that some sump pumps do actually pump the water in the garden. I decided to see if the next morning I get an answer to my mail and otherwise ask a neighbor if there was something to do about the climbing water level.

I checked the basement at 5:30 and at 7:30. Everything seemed OK and the rain had stopped. I brought the kids to the school, did some work (grocery shopping, library, I don't remember) and picked up the kids at noon. When we arrived home I said I am going to see if I can find a neighbor to ask about the pump. I ran downstairs to check the basement. Oh no! there were two small water stains on the carpet by the sump pump. Heeeeelp! What do I do. I had no idea.

I called P, he clicked me away. I left a message to a neighbor and to the contact person of the homeowners. The first one to come to my help was Kim, our neighbor. She ran to our house and started calling the plumbers. Oh, OK, so I needed a plumber... Not surprisingly, the plumbers were overbooked, the rain had been so devastating. The third one could send someone in an hour, who arrived two hours later. Kim also called a water damage company. A water damage company comes to your home after a flood and cleans up. You really need them fast, the carpet sucks the water up and it goes even into the walls. In 72 hours, mold starts growing all over. (that last one is what the water damage guy said to me).

While waiting for the plumber, we ran downstairs to pick up stuff laying on the ground. I was glad we did it, when the plumber came, the whole carpet was wet, the whole basement... It was just sad! By the way, we didn't have too much stuff on the ground: some boxes I never emptied, a computer and some books that we saved on time... The bookcases and some wardrobe parts in the storage got wet. Nothing too bad. I got to the store after Kim left, the door was jammed. I saw our baby bed that I just took apart -A sleeps in the IKEA bed now -, the bottom was wet and I cried. I cried my bed and the baby box got wet, I cried the house was a mess, I cried I was there dealing with that alone except for Kim and I cried because I hated the house at that moment with its raccoons, sewer problems, mouse, sump pumps and sump pits and now this! Fortunately, I do not hate it anymore, it is still such a nice house and I believe before we move back, I will be able to finish moving in.

I didn't know how to thank Kim. I was in panic and she had arranged everything. She said:' Oh well, I've through this twice, the first time I didn't know what to do either'.

So a dummies guide for what to do if your basement floods:

• Find someone who is calm and knows what to do. Some experience with the situation is a pre
• Call the plumber. If you cannot get one right away, call another one. Leave your number to all of the plumbers in case they have someone available and make sure that they don't send him before calling back. You don't want to get two plumbers at your door, it costs money!
• Arrange a water damage company. The plumbing company may know one.
• Save your stuff. Even if you think: 'Oh, the water will never reach this place', it will. It does. Our study looked totally dry when the water damage guy came. He measured with a machine, almost the whole room was wet!
• Do not put your stuff on the stairs. The water damage guy carries the wet carpets up the stairs and needs the space.

The plumber changed the sump pump. It was still pumping some water but the water came in faster, it was 'tired'. He couldn't tell us why the water was pumped outside the house where it came right back in the sump pit. Some strange construction probably. The new pump started working continuously again, but at least it has the power to coop up with the rain. The water damage guy came couple hours later. He checked the damage, gave a price estimate for the job. 4,5 thousand, seriously! The same evening we got contact with the landlord and they said 'do whatever needs to be done. It is an emergency'. They felt bad as we also felt bad, but nobody could do something, the nature is just too strong. Right now, the carpet is gone, the baseboards are removed, the floor is sanitized. The guy found mold in the basement bathroom, but not from this flood. It's good he found it, bad stuff, the mold. I am sitting in the kitchen writing this and trying to ignore the sound of 12 machines drying the basement. It's like sitting next to the washing machine running continuously, I hate it. Tomorrow, Saturday morning, the guy will come and pick them up. They have been there since Tuesday evening. I wonder when the basement will be ready again. The entrance looks like the first days when the boxes arrived, it is depressing. Well, tomorrow when the machines are gone, I will be too happy to think about that for a while.