Water Inside Forced Air Basement Floor Vent

[Eric66]

We have a spring melt here in Alberta and we are having issue with water under our furnace, it looks like groundwater run-off water. This water is filling the lowest spot (under the furnace) where all the basement's heat vents connect. We know that the weeping tiles are connected to the municipal drains. The house was built in 1951, before the regulation requiring sump pump. We don't have a sump pump in the house. We are wondering what is the cause of the water problem in the vent and what the solution is to fix this issue. This is the first time in 20 years that we are having this problem. Has anyone else experience this issue before? Thanks.

 

[Cacher_Chick]

If you have a furnace mounted humidifier you should look to make sure it is not the source of your water.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Eric66]

We do have a humidifier and i had a look and I'm sure it's not the source of the water problem.
Thanks for the reply.

 

[hj]

You "solve" the problem by putting a pump with a garden hose drain in the return line and pump the water out. The "source" of the water could be almost anything, (but the least likely reason would be a humidifier), and reason it is in the ductwork is because there are "leaks" in it for the water to enter.

 

[Reach4]

We have a spring melt here in Alberta and we are having issue with water under our furnace, it looks like groundwater run-off water. This water is filling the lowest spot (under the furnace) where all the basement's heat vents connect.

Basement floor vent-- are you saying that there are registers in your basement floor that normally blow warm air into the basement to heat the basement?

Are the vents that you are talking about metal, and are buried in the basement floor concrete?

Or are you saying that there are vent pipes above the concrete, but the water level has risen enough to seep into the metal duct?


Your water table may have risen. The pipe that feeds the foundation drain water into the city sewer may have clogged. The city sewer may be saturated and the standing level may have risen; do you have a basement floor drain where you would have seen a backup if the sewer had risen to that level, or is there a drain in that basement low spot that now has standing water?

 

[Eric66]

Thanks!

You "solve" the problem by putting a pump with a garden hose drain in the return line and pump the water out. The "source" of the water could be almost anything, (but the least likely reason would be a humidifier), and reason it is in the ductwork is because there are "leaks" in it for the water to enter.

Hi HJ

We've pumped the water out and that part works, and that works well (lucky for us there's a large access panel at the foot of the furnace); however we're looking for the source of this leak and a permanent solution to the problem. Thanks for your feedback. Cheers!

 

[Eric66]

Basement floor vent-- are you saying that there are registers in your basement floor that normally blow warm air into the basement to heat the basement?

Are the vents that you are talking about metal, and are buried in the basement floor concrete?

Or are you saying that there are vent pipes above the concrete, but the water level has risen enough to seep into the metal duct?


Your water table may have risen. The pipe that feeds the foundation drain water into the city sewer may have clogged. The city sewer may be saturated and the standing level may have risen; do you have a basement floor drain where you would have seen a backup if the sewer had risen to that level, or is there a drain in that basement low spot that now has standing water?

To answer your questions:

1) Yes, there are registers on the basement floors.

2) Yes, they are metal vents buried and encased in the concrete floor.

3) No, we don't have vent pipes above concrete that water is seeping into. We had a good look because it could have happened in the basement bathroom, but it didn't.

4) After reading your comment, we measured the water level from the floor drain and it's 10 inches from the top of the water to the top of the floor and we measured inside the furnace and ductwork, where the water is and it's 11 inches from the top of the water to the top of the floor. We emptied the duct work and it has since filled back up today with the same clear and brownish water. Again there was no sewer smell.

5) At this moment we don't have sewer back up problem.

In regards to your comment about the water table and the city sewer, we feel that we have to give some background information on the property. We've been living in the house over twenty years. Last spring was the first time we encountered a minor sewer back up and it only flooded one inch in the laundry room around the drain. We failed to unplug the main line with a rented auger/fisher. We had the city come and checked the sewer with a camera. It unplugged with the camera and they told us that some new Aspen tree roots were seen by the camera. Last year was also the first time in twenty years did we have water in the ductwork. Back in January we had another minor back up again that we successfully unplugged with a auger/fisher. We don't understand the connection with the sewer/weeping tile and the water in the ductwork. The water that we pumped out from the ductwork was not sewer water, it was clear and brownish sandy colored water, there was not any smell, except an earthy smell.

How does the sewer, weeping tile and ductwork related to our issue of water under the furnace? It feels to us that there is a build up of water under the house. Can you explain this connection of the sewer, weeping tile and ductwork?

It seems to us this will be an ongoing issue in the future. We can't run the basement furnace during these periods and we need a permanent solution to this new issue. Do you have any suggestions or direction?

Thank you so much for your insights.

 

[Reach4]

T
How does the sewer, weeping tile and ductwork related to our issue of water under the furnace? It feels to us that there is a build up of water under the house. Can you explain this connection of the sewer, weeping tile and ductwork?

It seems to us this will be an ongoing issue in the future. We can't run the basement furnace during these periods and we need a permanent solution to this new issue. Do you have any suggestions or direction?

The reason I was asking some of the questions is that a possibility seemed to be that somehow the the perimeter foundation drain could have been distributing water from the sewer (don't know if they are hooked to a storm sewer or a combined sewer). I would check with the neighbors in your neighborhood who are downhill from you. If they were accepting storm water but fixed things so they no longer get the water, the water is available to the next-higher houses.


Vents buried below a basement floor are new to me. That is probably why I was slow to understand that is what you meant. I don't know how to diagnose a sewer backup lower than the level of a drain. Now does the perimeter foundation drain drain lower than those vents? I don't know, but knowing that could be relevant in understanding what happened and what the cure is. If the perimeter drain is lower, then you would want to find out why that is not keeping the water table low enough. If the perimeter drain is not below the vents, then it cannot be the solution.

I am suspecting that your ground water is higher than it used to be, or that the waterproof barrier that used to work is no longer stopping the water. What I would be thinking of is to dig a sump pit under the basement. The hope would be that the water would migrate there, and from that new pit you could pump the water where it needs to go. I dug a sump pit for a house under the basement steps to not take useful floor area. The pit was effective, even though it did not have the radial pipes that are usually suggested.

The city may be helpful in this case. They probably know how the houses in your area were constructed, and that is a long way to find a cure that will lower your water table. These air passages under the basement floor are something I have not been around, and I hope you find an effective cure.

 

[Eric66]

The reason I was asking some of the questions is that a possibility seemed to be that somehow the the perimeter foundation drain could have been distributing water from the sewer (don't know if they are hooked to a storm sewer or a combined sewer). I would check with the neighbors in your neighborhood who are downhill from you. If they were accepting storm water but fixed things so they no longer get the water, the water is available to the next-higher houses.


Vents buried below a basement floor are new to me. That is probably why I was slow to understand that is what you meant. I don't know how to diagnose a sewer backup lower than the level of a drain. Now does the perimeter foundation drain drain lower than those vents? I don't know, but knowing that could be relevant in understanding what happened and what the cure is. If the perimeter drain is lower, then you would want to find out why that is not keeping the water table low enough. If the perimeter drain is not below the vents, then it cannot be the solution.

I am suspecting that your ground water is higher than it used to be, or that the waterproof barrier that used to work is no longer stopping the water. What I would be thinking of is to dig a sump pit under the basement. The hope would be that the water would migrate there, and from that new pit you could pump the water where it needs to go. I dug a sump pit for a house under the basement steps to not take useful floor area. The pit was effective, even though it did not have the radial pipes that are usually suggested.

The city may be helpful in this case. They probably know how the houses in your area were constructed, and that is a long way to find a cure that will lower your water table. These air passages under the basement floor are something I have not been around, and I hope you find an effective cure.

Thanks for the feedback. We're considering the sump pit idea; our water table level has changed because our eavestroughs was diverted from draining into the sewer into the ground and one of neighbours has also done the same.