Continuous Water in Basement

[Koorime]

The situation is, as of late, there has been much more water in our basement than the usual amount. We've had heavy rain that was off and on and for two weeks or more had snow that was 12" deep that was frozen on the ground in our yard. It also rained on top of the snow, washing away or into the ground. Then what of the snow that was left, it melted and we had more rain Which made our basement even more disasterous.

We have no drainage around our house and the land slopes so that most of the water that is coming downward is trapped in a corner of a wall. Bushes line all the way down the wall of our house too.

Now where the water is coming in, it is in the corner of the basement where lots of the water is being trapped against the wall that connects to the house. Where the water is seeping in, it is the sector where there is literally dirt not concrete as the floor. But that's only the area that has the water and sewage pipes against the wall leading out of the house to the main water/sewage line were left concretless. You can even see the roots from our bushes which I guess grew underneath the wall of our house. Is that area suppose to be like that?

Anyway, we've checked the water meter numerously to see if the red triangle was spinning but it wasn't.

We were wondering if you can have a leakage from the outside from the water pipe that leads into your house and what are some of the signs in which you can detect that a exterior pipe thats in the ground is the cause?

Or is it that the ground is so saturated with water and were getting all our neighbors water in addition, to cause seeping from in the dirt. It's hard to tell, because the water pipe is right there but concealed underneath all the soil and because there are roots from the bush, were not sure if it's the pipe or not.

And if it is, is there an inexpensive way to fix the problem. Please help.



~*~

What could be some other causes if not the pipe bursting or seeping in from the overfull ground?

 

[Jadnashua]

You need to grade the ground around th ehouse so thatit slopes away for at least a few feet, more is much better. Any gutter downspouts also need to run to either a drain, or out away from the house as well. Putting a bunch of soil around bushes may kill them, so if you want to keep them, you may need to dig them up and replant. Check with a good garden center to find out first.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Koorime]

I wish thats all we would had to do but the water guy came and said it's a pipe leak. How much does it usually cost to re-pipe it to your house if it's 15 ft in a straight line? And do you have to change your piping. Can you have galvanized pipes or do they have to be copper? I also think the water man messed our pipes up more cause it's making weird noises when he clamped them for the leak check. Is that normal for after testing? Please help. T_T

 

[Gary Swart]

If the pipe is leaking, you must replace it all. You will have to dig up the whole 15' anyway, and that will be the expensive part. I don't know what you are hearing, or what the "water man" did, but I can think of anything that he could have done to cause any additional problems. Galvanize pipe would be a very poor choice, it rusts out in a relatively short time. I prefer copper, but PVC can be used. Material costs are pretty inexpensive no matter what material you use. Digging the trench is a labor job. If you can do that yourself, you could save significant money. Consult at least 3 plumbing contractors and get their advise on they type of pipe to use and estimates on the cost both if you dig or if they do it. If you can't personally dig the trench, you might find a handyman in the newspaper that will work for less than a plumber.

 

[Deb]

Deb

Something is wrong here--if the little red triangle on your meter is not turning, you are not using water and you do not have a leak.
Who exactly is this "water man" who said you had a leak and how exactly did he determine this?
Deb
The Pipewench

 

[Jadnashua]

If the leak is on the supply side of the meter, then??? Not sure if the city might have an interest in fixing it, since nobody is paying for the water lost. They might just turn your water off at the street, though if they knew. My unprofessional 2 cents.

 

[Cme10ae]

A few months ago we had a leak on our supply side. It was under our NEW garage, luckily the floor had not been poured yet. It was discovered when a sinkhole developed in the dirt inside the new garage. After the sinkhole started but before the leak was fixed we could hear an increasingly loud soud of water running *somewhere* even when all fixtures were turned off. When it got really bad our water pressure started dropping. I guess those are signs to look for.

 

[Jumpyg]

A few months ago we had a leak on our supply side. It was under our NEW garage, luckily the floor had not been poured yet. It was discovered when a sinkhole developed in the dirt inside the new garage. After the sinkhole started but before the leak was fixed we could hear an increasingly loud soud of water running *somewhere* even when all fixtures were turned off. When it got really bad our water pressure started dropping. I guess those are signs to look for.

Wow, that post freaked me out a little bit.

I think I may have a water supply leak myself. I did not think anything of this when I moved into my 20-year-old house two years ago. There is a pretty long depression running parallel to my driveway in the front yard. It runs for maybe 20-30 feet and is a couple feet wide. It's not that noticeable, though. One of the concrete sections of the walkway to my front door is about two inches lower than it should be because of this depression, as well. I haven't noticed any changes in 2.5 years to the depression, though. Doesn't seem to be getting worse, and no evidence of damage inside or outside the structure of the house (although maybe I don't know what to look for).


I looked tonight and the depression seems to run along a line perpendicular with the house, right where the water meter is in the basement. This makes me think I might have a leak in the supply run from the street to the house. Is there any way to see if this is the case? Can a geotechnical engineer test this without excavating my front yard? I also wonder why I have such a long depression, instead of a sinkhole. It's leaking and then running along the pipe or something?

 

[Cme10ae]

Just dig it up, you'll know soon enough. I wouldn't spend the big $$ on an engineer, he'd just say to dig it up anyway.