It seems that I am destined not to have carpeting in the train room section of the basement. Less than 3 weeks after laying new carpeting upstairs, and installing the old stuff in the basement, we got a horriffic thunderstorm up north. In about 2 1/2 hours, we got over 4 1/2 inches of rain, 1 1/2 inch hail, winds over 60 mph, plus two confirmed tornadoes. My basement took on about 2 inches of water. Not too much, but enough to soak the carpeting. The worst part is the drain in the floor (which connects outside to the city storm drain) isn't draining. The city tells me the street main is full. Oh Great! So far, the stationary tub is draining well. I have dumped countless gallons from the shop vac into it. Problem is, there is still water coming in. I don't think it will negatively affect the layout, other then the humidity in the basement is about 100%. The dehumidifier is running full blast. Seems to me that a couple feet of snow is certainly better than this. Jeff Augsburg & Concord R.R. (a fictional shortline in Central Illinois) http://www.pegnsean.net/~revnjeff
Gee,some guys have all the luck.We had a simular problem a couple months agur sewer line out to the city line got plugged with tree roots.
Wow...and that maybe the reason I will forever live in the land of dry heat. Of course, you must also remember that is we were to get that same amount of rain down here, we would all be on the roofs of our houses and driving boats down main street. And if we get just a little water on the road, well hese darn drivers around here barley know how to drive in the first place, much less how to hydroplane, and so we have a great many problems with that too. Back in my home town of Dewey AZ, we once had a storm that dropped very large golfball size hail, and that pratically wiped out the insurance agencies for the next couple of months. Everybodys' cars had a million dimples. Look on the bright side...at least you did not put new carpet in the train room. And if there are any good contact points on the ceiling, you maybe able to put hooks in the celing and in the layout, and then cover then up until you can recarpet the floor. Of course, the ceiling might not like the weight of the layout knowing how most of us like building things (indestructible). Insurance might take care of it...you may even be able to get new carpet, or such. Good luck, and may then water stop soon. BK Ant in the Shadow of the Desert Sun [ 20 April 2002, 03:24: Message edited by: Benny ]
What you could have done is have a shut-off put in. The house I used to live in had one that was manual, but I know they have automatic ones now. That would pervent backups into the basement.
Where I live, a sump pump is mandatory or else my basement would be continually flooding. The pump sits in a small well just below the basement and it fills 6 or more times a day and the pump gets rid of it into the storm sewer or to outside. I always keep a spare pump on hand.
Shucks Jeff. Not deep enough to swim in. Probable to cold anyway. I remember up in Bellingham, Wa. back in the 50's a cousin had a house with a full basement. Their oil furnace was down there. We had really heavy rains which flooded their basement deep enough to flood out their furnace. Sandy and I supposedly live in a flood area but so far have not seen it yet. We wish you luck in drying out and hope your layout is ok. [ 20 April 2002, 16:40: Message edited by: Telegrapher ]
RevnJeff, if your stationary tub is draining OK, where is that water draining to? Is the water entering your basement from up welling (back-up) from the floor drain, or is it seepage from around the walls, or cracks in the floor? Maybe you could put a float controlled sump pump in to drain into that stationary tub? In Kansas when Dad had our home built, they dug the basement with a steam shovel, then dumped sand in and leveled it out, and tamped it down wet. Then they rolled out long rolls of a black tar paper (felt) and mopped hot tar all over that. They put it up the sides about three feet high all around the sides. Then they built forms and poured the concrete floor. (The sump pit was already poured and tarred, then covered over and damed up to floor height.) The wall forms were put in and the walls were poured. Then the out side of the walls were tarred and the black tar paper was added all the way up above ground level. Then that was tarred again on the outside. Gravel was shoveled in against the walls about a foot thick and dirt was filled in on the other side of a sheet metal which was pulled up as they went until the walls were back filled to the top. They troweled concrete over the top of the gravel that sloped away from the house to carry rain water away. They lowered the big furnace in with a crane, and Dad's lathe, milling machine and tool cabinets. All the heavy stuff was then covered with tarps, and the house was built over the basement as usual. It never leaked from 1937 til 1945 when we moved to Texas. That was "Home" to me, where the best years of my live were played out. All the kids in the neighborhood brought their trains to run them on my layout in that basement. It was a grand time for us all.
I've heard of rain, but I haven't seen any lately- we-ve had all of 1.2 inches so far this year (less than half of what we should have), and the fire season in the mountains has started early. Over the past week, we've had half of Utah blown over here. Where I lived at before I moved up here (Paris, Texas), there were very few basements, the story being that if one dug a hole, he would either hit oil or water
Almost all of the water is seepage from cracks in the foundation. There are 4 main places where the water is entering. The trouble seems to be right now, that there is still seepage. I have emptied the 10 gallon wet vac another 15 times this morning. Seems like bailing on the Titanic. But the good news is that besides old carpeting, and a couple of empty cardboard boxes, we haven't really lost anything. And as far is insurance is concerned, there's a $250 deductible, so I would have to spend the first $250 myself. And there's a doubt that the insurance will cover flood damage anyway. The carpet is already on the curb, fans running and after lunch, more wet vac time. Jeff
Jeff, we had 65 mile an hour winds in the City and 2-4 inches of rain in the Tri-state area last evening. A 400 foot crane toppled over onto a 300 foot building under construction in Jersey City, a man was killed in Brooklyn when a wall fell on him, and flooding and golf ball sized hail was reported in many places. Newark had 78 mile an hour winds! Temps dropped at leat 30 degrees since yesterday afternoon. Rain was howling sideways up my street. It was unreal. I truely mean when the cold front hit, it sounded like a freight train running through here. Thanks goodness my only flooding worries living in an apartment are from old pipes and not Mother Nature. Good luck with your cleanup!
Water everywhere sucks. Only time we get flooded here is when the dishwasher leaks, or the pipes break, or something similar. Once we came home to an inch of water in the kitchen spilling down the stairs into the basement when the dishwasher leaked real bad. Where I'm at is near the top of a big hill, and the basement is at ground level on the backside of the house, so drainage here is not an issue.
Before we bought this house, the place we rented was next to an irrigation ditch...every spring it would flood and the train room would be covered with about two inches. Luckily it was not my house, but it did damage the wood support posts for the railroad. Hope it all works out Jeff! John
The house we were in before we moved to Clifton, the water line in the bathroom broke, flooding the basement/train room. The only things I lost, fortunately, were a magazine or two (well, maybe not fortunately, but it coulda been worse- I had a 27-year collection of magazines in danger). The landlord came over to inspect the damage, and he marveled at the layout I had (and moaned at the waterlogged carpet).
Bob, That says something for your layout! He could have moaned at the layout and marvelled at the water-logged carpet !! John
