Extending a basement drain

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bamichael

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I'm new to the forum and have a question regarding some advice that was given to me a few years ago. I moved into a home about six years ago that was built in the 1950's on a basement. Wall leaks have been minimal and I've had a sump and under the floor trenching and weep holes put in on the wall that is the most problematic. However, this week, we got about 4.5" of rain in about 4 hours. The rainwater drains in the street couldn't keep up and water came up my basement drain to about 4 or 5 inches. This is the first time I've seen this happen.

The advice I recall a guy giving me was this. He said that if I had a problem like this, instead of sealing it and risking that the plug might not hold (this happened to my father-in-law), that I should look at extending the drain up a couple feet and make sure it is sealed well around the drain itself. He contended that in the situation I saw this week, that water would have only come up the extension about as far as it filled my basement (4 to 5 inches) and then it would stop instead of filling and overflowing the extension. He said something about the weight of the water and air pressure would not allow it to overflow. Does this sound right to anyone else?
 

Reach4

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Not quite. The thing you are talking about is often called a basement standpipe.

If you are thinking about a remedy, so are the neighbors. The fact that sewer water came into basements in your neighborhood meant that there was less pressure on the sewer system. If half of the houses take effective action, the water would go to the others. Half won't take action now. They might the next time.

Systems, in the order of preference:
  1. Overhead sewers -- where upstairs loads are carried by gravity, and the basement loads are pumped up higher. Usually a new main sewer connection through the basement wall is required-- I guess to insure that there is no unknown connection below the basement floor. Budget ~$16000
  2. Concealed pit in the yard where maybe 5 or 6 ft pit is built underground. There is a normally open backwater valve in the bottom that passes water from the house to the street. If the valve closes due to rising water, the water rises in the pit giving maybe 200 or 300 gallons of storage until the water rises to basement floor level. This much works even if the power is out. But there is also a grinder pump that empties the pit by force into the downstream side of the valve. I am surprised it is allowed, and may not be in all cases. There is a tray above the pit opening that is filled with grass. That tray gets lifted for service. Budget ~$8000.
  3. Backwater valve indoors with pump going around. Backwater valve needs a drop from input to output, so existing slope must be robbed or an interval to get the required drop.
  4. Plug the basement drain with a test plug, standpipe, etc. If the water does not rise to the next basement drain, that could work. You still need a sump with a pump to pump seeping water into the yard.
  5. etc... not going to try to go into the others
What is common but not effective is a dangling flapper that is designed to be a check valve. Those always get held open by solids after a while, and will at best only slow rising water. In some areas prone to sewer backups, there is often a program to contribute maybe $1000 to $5000 to items 1 or even 2 above. You have to get your application in while the program is funded.
 
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