So, let me tell you how my Christmas is going so far.
It’s 3am. I live in upstate New York. It’s 57 degrees F. In the last 12 hours or so I’ve gotten 1.75” of rain. That’s on top of what’s left of the 22” of snow I got last week, which is rapidly melting.
The two sump pumps in my basement are cranking away. For now. The forecast calls for high winds and possible power outages. Flooding too.
Tomorrow, the forecast is for temperatures to go back below freezing...
And, where the conduit for power to the well pump comes through the basement wall, in the inaccessible corner behind the pressure tank for the water system, water is leaking in. And that’s not all.
Where the conduit comes into the junction box for the pressure sensor for the tank, water is coming out of it like a garden hose.
I’ve rigged a catch basin under the biggest leak, and I’m using a portable sump to drain it every few minutes. I’m also using a wet vac every few minutes to try to stay on top of the smaller leak I can’t reach.
The rain is forecast to continue into the afternoon today. I have no idea how long the water will keep pouring in through the conduit; between the rain and the melting snow, the ground is saturated.
My house is located halfway down a slope on a shelf. Normally drainage is not a problem — but normal isn’t any more. This is not like the winters used to be 20 odd years ago when I and my family moved in here. The last time something like this happened… was last summer when we got 5” of rain in about 8 hours.
I realize this doesn’t compare to getting burned out by wildfires, hit by a hurricane, or a tornado, but it’s not exactly fun either. As weather events become more extreme and more common, a lot of construction that used to be ‘good enough’— won’t be.
This storm system is hitting pretty much the entire east coast. The news later today won’t be pretty.
The last time I was on the Gulf Coast, I saw a lot of new beach homes being built where Katrina had come ashore. Some of them were on pilings 30-50 feet in the air.
Meanwhile, I am typing this between vacuuming and running the pump every 5 minutes or so. I can’t imagine getting anyone here to fix this on Christmas Day. Could they even do it while the water is still pouring in?
Nothing will be open, and what would work? I’ve seen ads on tv for that miracle quick curing rubber compound; I would kill for a half gallon of the stuff to try right now.
It’s now 4:30am, Christmas Day. 59 degrees F. Rainfall total is now 2”.
So okay. I’ve now managed to rig a large plastic funnel so it’s catching all of the water coming out of the junction box, into a hose going to one of the regular sump pumps.
I rigged a flume out of aluminum foil that’s catching the leak in the corner, and sending the water into a gap between the wall and the floor. So far, so good, for a given value of good.
Fingers crossed that power will stay on, the sump pumps will be able to keep up, and I won’t end up with an indoor pool. Suggestions would be appreciated.
I’ve really gone off basements lately.
