Shortly thereafter, at about 10 pm, Jeff noticed that our sump pump was running nearly continuously, and so he went down to the basement to check on it. There was water pouring in through the drain pipe at a furious rate, and it was gaining on the pump. We grabbed a couple of large containers to start bailing water out of the sump and into the floor drain that runs into the city sewer system, which is conveniently located right next to our sump. We were able to keep up with the flow, but there was no sign of it stopping anytime soon. I was using a 12 cup container to bail, and it took about two seconds to fill from the drain pipe. It was pretty unbelievable how much water there was pouring in!
Sometime in the middle of bailing, Jeff bumped into the pipes coming up out of the sump hard enough to disconnect the backflow valve where two pipes connect. All of a sudden, we had water spraying everywhere! There was water spraying out of the pipe where the pump was still pumping, and there was water spraying back into the house from the other end of the pipe where water had already been pumped, but didn't make it all the way out. It was actually quite impressive - both streams of water met in the middle and then fanned out all over our utility room (and all over Jeff). Jeff kept a level head and got the valve and the two pipes reattached quickly, and I dried off the room with some towel. We had a good laugh about that later.
Our sump pump system pumps water up to ground level, then out the side of the house into a pipe that then turns back underground and runs all the way out to the back corner of our yard, the lowest part of our property, where it pops up out of the ground. When the system is working properly, you can see the water bubble up out of the ground at the end of the line. Well, the storm had dumped so much rain on our already waterlogged ground that that whole area of the yard was flooded with water about four inches deep. So the water coming out of the sump line didn't stand much of a chance of making it out under the weight of the rest of the standing water, and the poor sump pump couldn't overcome it. We discovered this when Jeff took a quick break from bailing water.
We needed a solution fast or the basement was going to flood if the water kept coming, so we popped the pressure relief valve located just outside the house before the pipes go back underground. Water started shooting out of that, and this let the sump pump catch up and keep up with all the water that was being dumped into it. So now we had a continuous fountain of water that was just dumping out right next to the foundation, and with more rain on the way, there was no hope of getting the flow of water into the sump to slow down if we just kept recycling the same water. So, Jeff started digging trenches to try and direct some of the flow away from the foundation. That didn't really work.
Jeff called a couple of neighbors to see if anyone had any extra PVC pipe or anything else laying around that we could use to direct the water. One of them, Randy, the guy who built our house, said he'd start raiding his job sites around the neighborhood to see if there was anything. About this time, our next door neighbor, Jerry, noticed us running around with our shovel and flashlight, and came over to help. He calmed us down a bit and offered to go look for equipment, too. Eventually, Randy drove up. He hadn't found anything at any of his job sites. Jerry took off to go to a friend's house who he thought might have something. At about the same time, Randy noticed that another job site right across the street from us had the garage door open, and as he was friends with that builder, he went on over to see if they had anything. Lo and behold, they had a ton of PVC pipe and a bunch of different joints sitting there in the garage. He liberated a bunch of stuff and we rigged up a pipe system that ran from the relief valve over into another part of the yard. Yes, there was lots of duct tape involved. Jerry came back and we all went back to our respective homes.
It was about midnight by this time, and after making sure that the sump pump was able to keep up with all the water, we called it a night. We replaced our borrowed PVC with new purchased PVC on Friday night and returned the borrowed ones to the builder across the street. He didn't mind that we borrowed his stuff during our emergency, which was nice. Another neighbor brought over a new backflow valve to replace the one we knocked loose in the basement, so we installed that, too.
Today we got up and spent the morning cleaning up the landscaping we destroyed while furiously trenching. We also hooked all the sump pump pipes back into their original configuration. Unfortunately, there still seems to be a problem with the system. Water still flows out, but not as fast as it should, and our pump has to work harder to push it through than when we let the water flow out of the relief valve that we hooked up yesterday. We think there might be something trapped in the line between the side of the house and the back corner of the yard. We're going to try and snake it out sometime soon to see if we find anything in there. If we can't, I guess we'll be calling a plumber. For the time being, we went back to our duct taped PVC system which seems to be working well.
We also hooked up several gutter extensions around the house to try and direct water farther away from our foundation. We have clay soil here, and for the first couple of years, had absolutely no drainage into the sump. In the last year or so, I think that water has finally worked little paths through the clay, maybe along tree roots and maybe just through erosion and it's easily reaching the sump. Hopefully the gutter extensions we put on today will slow it down a bit. Isn't home ownership fun!
Here are some pictures. You deserve them if you made it through the whole story!
There were pretty clouds before the storm arrived.
The flooding of the yard commences. The sump drain is located between the white well cap and the grass plants in the back corner of the yard.
This is where the sump water exits the house. It's supposed to go down. Now it goes up and over.
Our new drain pipe. Aren't you impressed? Isn't it lovely? :)
6 comments:
Look in the front of the house to see if water is coming off the roof and splashing down next to the foundation (watch those V-thingys on the front gutter roof valleys).You may have to look during the next downpour. Front downspouts may need to be extended away from the foundation. Also check to see if critters have blocked the end of the sump discharge pipe out by the well. Check the HO for sewer backup coverage at the highest $$ amount. Worrywart
Thanks for the pictures it really did make it worth while even though I enjoy reading longer posts! Sorry to hear you are having water problems-hope you find the root cause and it's a simple/cheap fix.
zoikes scoob! that's awful! it's great that you have nice neighbors who are willing to help in emergencies. i hope you can figure this out before the next downpour. ahh KS. i so miss the tornado sirens that sent us into our basements. well, it usually sent me to the back porch with my dad to see if we could spot one. we never did though.
i do remember a storm that flooded the creek in hays when the circus was in town. afterwards the fam drove thru town checking out the damage and made it to the circus site to see the elephants pulling cars out of the mud.
crazy weather.
I have lived in Kansas for 28+ of my 31 years, and I still haven't seen a tornado in person, even though I've tried. Oh well.
Jeremy and my stepdad were outside during the tornado warning on Thursday night in Derby (I know...not a good idea) and Jeremy got to see his first funnel cloud form! He was so stoked.
CRAZY amount of water lately. We're all waterlogged.
First of all... y'all are crazy for "trying" to see one. I was always the one that dropped everything and ran to the basement as fast as possible! Meanwhile, the rest of the fam was still at the dinner table chatting. One summer... I practically moved everything I owned to the basement b/c I was sick of lugging it back and forth. Ick... don't miss those at all.
And I SO remember that storm and the circus!!! That's the same night my cousin Stephen locked himself in the car when my Gpa and Uncle ran into C-mart to get snowballs. It was DOWNPOURING and they couldn't get him to unlock it!
And as for the sump pump, you DO have fabulous neighbors!! I've lived in my apt. for 10 mos. and I've only met 1. Okay... so that kinda falls on me. But ANYWAY... good luck with the sump pump!!!
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