Flooded basement

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on January 11, 2016 at 23:41

A few years ago we got a useful tip from friends whose basement was flooded. Their plumber came and said the fault was from the water main and they needed to call Thames Water. He strongly advised them to keep a careful record of calls they made; exact times; to get the names of who they spoke to and jot down what was said.
He told them that, in his experience, if promises were not kept, different Call Centre staff at would not always have a record of previous calls. And so it proved.

I have to say that my own experience of their service was more positive. A couple of times I've made calls on behalf of disabled residents when pipes were blocked and backed-up by inconsiderate neighbours pouring away cooking oil and other waste. Thames Water staff were extremely helpful.

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Permalink Reply by Justin Guest on January 12, 2016 at 14:08

If it smells it is likely to be your drains which run directly beneath the cellar floor, and not that far from the bottom of the floor. Fresh water supply is a bit higher so if there is a leak you would hear and see it. The likelihood is it is ground water given the immense amounts of rain. Many cellars have a problem with it being wet and dry dependent upon the season. Mine was like this at home in Barnsley. We sometimes found puddles in there from a changing water table.

The one thing you may want to have TW check is that if there is a blockage in a nearby drain water may be leaking out and saturating the surrounding soil, and artificially raising the water table near your home...

What kind of floor do you have by the way? Earth?

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Permalink Reply by Max on January 12, 2016 at 17:37

Thanks for the responses. We've had an independent plumber round this morning who has confirmed that it is a water table, and due to the wet weather, it has been higher than usual. The basement/coal cellar has been refurbished so it has a concrete floor and a "manhole" (really just a small muddy hole) that some previous owner dug out. It seems that the hole is not deep enough for the sump pump to kick in, so the builders are coming on Saturday to dig it deeper and finish it properly with concrete, etc..... Our builder (decoracus) has said that he has seen a few other houses on the ladder with the same problem. I was wandering if anyone has this problem? And maybe any advice as to whether a deeper hole solves the problem? The only other option is to tank the basement which seems to be an eye wateringly expensive and invasive option......

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Permalink Reply by JD on January 14, 2016 at 21:43

Hi we live on Lothair Road North and a number of houses have problems with water in their coal cellar on our street. Our house has had a sump area for years I believe but it had been covered over by builders who renovated the property before we bought it so we only discovered it when our false cellar floor collapsed with wet rot. We had it all investigated through our insurance company and their conclusion was that it was a ground water issue. We now have a sump pump fitted which keeps the cellar fairly dry but still dampish. We also have a new lined raised floor but this means the head height not great so we only use the cellar as storage.

  

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Permalink Reply by Max on January 15, 2016 at 11:22

Hi Juliette,

Thanks so much for your reply. I've sent you a connection request and I would love to speak to you about your experience if at all possible. We actually already have a sump installed, but the hole it's sitting in far too shallow, so it's proving inadequate. The builders are coming tomorrow to dig the hole about 3 feet deeper. We're hoping that this will solve the problem, but any more information before they start would be amazing.

Thanks again.

Max 

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Permalink Reply by JD on January 15, 2016 at 19:49

Hi our sump is about 70cm x30 cm and about 60 cm deep. Our pump has broken so I am manually emptying it but the sump pump worked very well for a few years.  It filled to a level of less than 20 cm before the pump automatically kicked in. We just need to replace the pump and haven't got round to it.

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