Home Improvement → Where does all that water in the basement come from....

Happened to be home today during a nice rain. I spotted a few "problems" that I think could explain where a lot of the water that gets into the basement is coming from.

The rear guttering is hopelessly overwhelmed. The water can't run down the single downspout fast enough when perfectly clear; now imagine if a few leaves and stuff were in the way too....



All this water hitting the ground--- it's hard to see in this picture but there's 3 inches of water pooling here and flooding the patio area.....



Now I go around front. Check out the Downspouts into French drains. First one is backing up big time....



And the Downspout on the side of the Garage---- It's full of water.... if you can see in this image water is shooting out of a nail hole under pressure.....



A lower angle showing more water from the spout. This pipe is either completely filled or blocked but it's sure not draining anything!



And last but not least.... It took me awhile to find out how so much water was getting in the garage. It was a mystery--- under the door? A leak? Couldn't find the source !! Well, here it is: The condensate pipe for the A/C-Furnace! You see apparently the previous homeowners thought it would be a good idea to connect the condensate line to the french drains the downspouts use. So when they backup, water backs up into the garage. This is actually after most the rain had stopped. It had been shooting out with a lot more force....



Looks like I have some work ahead of me. I need to revamp the guttering and draining of this place. If I'm lucky though I'll nip a lot of the basement water issues in the bud.....

If your downspouts are or used to go into the sewer system, that is probably illegal now. That may even be plugged with leaves or debris. You should add extensions on the bottom to get the water out away from the home. Although, if the land is not sloped away from your home and water puddles close to it, you may still have issues.

How in the world did this pass the inspection, or get qualified with this mess? I would not doubt that with the picture that the rain is backing up in the drain, that it is either plugged, or collapsed.

Do you have 2x3 or 3x4 downspouts? The 3x4's are much more leaf friendly. HD doesn't carry the 3x4's around here, but Lowes has them. I added one to the gutter over our back porch last summer. It had about a 40 foot run between two 3x4 downspouts and tended to spill over in heavy rains. Adding a third in the center made a huge difference!

That downspout that is spraying water has leaves clogging it up, down at the elbow. Clean those out and it will flow a LOT better.

I bought it in Fall '07. It was a long dry fall.

Yes, I paid for inspections. Yes, the inspector missed pretty much everything. (He did catch that the living room fan wasn't properly balanced, and that some bulbs here and there were burnt out, etc.

But I digress. I think I have an idea where to start on my basement water issues. Water from the roof.

You may still be able to take the previous owners back to court for damages. Check with a lawyer, and the court regulations. Also, when you lay the new runoffs, go the extra step, and go one step better then the minimum standards.

Things to do:
1. Clean the leaves out of the gutters.
2. Clean the down spouts.
3. Cut the down spouts a foot off the ground and attach
a 90 degree elbow with an extension to drain at least 3
feet away from the foundation.
4. Add an 18" vertical extension to the drain by the furnace
and buy an "automatic condensation pump" to pump
the condensation up to the drain.