Me, Myself and Hurricane Irene

Fat Freddy wrote:

Mother Nature is apparently not done f**king with my life yet. We've been having heavy rain for the past 18 hours or so and my cellar is taking on water again. Nowhere near as much as LAST weekend, thankfully, just a couple of inches' worth, but damn, Universe, go pick on somebody else for a while, for cryin' out loud....

i hear ya. It was like the hurricane outside yesterday afternoon and then again this morning. I am really tired of rain.

exact33 wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Mother Nature is apparently not done f**king with my life yet. We've been having heavy rain for the past 18 hours or so and my cellar is taking on water again. Nowhere near as much as LAST weekend, thankfully, just a couple of inches' worth, but damn, Universe, go pick on somebody else for a while, for cryin' out loud....

i hear ya. It was like the hurricane outside yesterday afternoon and then again this morning. I am really tired of rain.

I live in Denmark - so don't complain about rain!

Now, I am glad that absolutely NOTHING happens here - it's probably the safest place to live in the world

After an all night thunder/lightning/heavy rain storm on Wednesday night, we woke up yesterday AM to yet another basement flood. Ankle deep this time. Thankfully my neighbor came over with his electric pump and we were able to get it out of there in fairly short order.

We came to the conclusion that the pipe that my sump pump flows into, which is supposed to take the water out of the house and to the storm drain at the end of my street, is clogged or blocked so as it's trying to get rid of all the rain water that's been coming in, it's been backing up and flowing back into the cellar. So we re-routed the drain hose from my sump pump (through a hole in the wall for a dryer vent which is no longer needed, as the dryer is now on the ground floor) and ran a hose from that down to the edge of my property to the street. It ain't pretty but at least it'll keep the water out of the house until a more permanent solution can be found.

Big ups to my neighbor for taking a chunk out of his morning to help me out!

Just found out that a girl I went to high school with lost a child in the floods (she lives near by in VA). I can't think of anything worse than losing a child

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=41&sid=2535693

that is horrible joker. I agree.

FF - glad you have a temporary solution. My old house the basement had problems in the basement so we had the sump pit enlarged and a pourous pipe installed so the water that was coming up from underneath the pad flowed into there and then out.

exact33 wrote:

that is horrible joker. I agree.

FF - glad you have a temporary solution. My old house the basement had problems in the basement so we had the sump pit enlarged and a pourous pipe installed so the water that was coming up from underneath the pad flowed into there and then out.

Yeah, my neighbor and I were talkin' yesterday and we're probably gonna end up doing something similar. For right now, though, this'll do.

Fat Freddy wrote:

exact33 wrote:

that is horrible joker. I agree.

FF - glad you have a temporary solution. My old house the basement had problems in the basement so we had the sump pit enlarged and a pourous pipe installed so the water that was coming up from underneath the pad flowed into there and then out.

Yeah, my neighbor and I were talkin' yesterday and we're probably gonna end up doing something similar. For right now, though, this'll do.

the water table in my area is pretty high even without the rain so all this water has made life interesting to say the least.

exact33 wrote:

the water table in my area is pretty high even without the rain so all this water has made life interesting to say the least.

Us, too. I've lived in that house since '99 and when it rained heavy, you could count on seeing some wetness on the basement floor, i.e. a couple of puddles here and there, but this past year it's been off the charts, which is why we believe that the outflow pipe for our sump pump has gotten clogged/blocked. Wouldnt' surprise me, the damn pipe looks like it's been there since the house was built in the 50s.

Unfortunately just digging it up and replacing it is probably not an option, since the pipe appears to go under my next door neighbor's property on its way to the storm drain on the corner and somehow I doubt they'd be too happy about me tearing up their back yard trying to find it...

On a somewhat related note, today's paper sez that North Jersey has had fourteenn inches of rain in the past two weeks. That's the equivalent of four months' worth of rain. Yikes.

exact33 wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

exact33 wrote:

that is horrible joker. I agree.

FF - glad you have a temporary solution. My old house the basement had problems in the basement so we had the sump pit enlarged and a pourous pipe installed so the water that was coming up from underneath the pad flowed into there and then out.

Yeah, my neighbor and I were talkin' yesterday and we're probably gonna end up doing something similar. For right now, though, this'll do.

the water table in my area is pretty high even without the rain so all this water has made life interesting to say the least.

You all having any issues? I'm pretty well isolated from any flooding and right at the foot hills of the Blue Ridge mountains (the town I live in is called Round Hill). But, drive to a lower elevation like Leesburg (where I go shopping. movies, etc) and they are getting some flooding

Thankfully I have not had any flodding issues, however we did have some leakage in the front bay window and above the door. We've had those leaks once or twice before, so I was pretty much expecting it this time round.

It only happens when the rain is pounding straight towards the front of the house. It hits a certain angle and seeps in through the capping & bricks. My neighbor has the exact same problem. Just the way the homes were built I guess.

Fat Freddy wrote:

exact33 wrote:

the water table in my area is pretty high even without the rain so all this water has made life interesting to say the least.

Us, too. I've lived in that house since '99 and when it rained heavy, you could count on seeing some wetness on the basement floor, i.e. a couple of puddles here and there, but this past year it's been off the charts, which is why we believe that the outflow pipe for our sump pump has gotten clogged/blocked. Wouldnt' surprise me, the damn pipe looks like it's been there since the house was built in the 50s.

Unfortunately just digging it up and replacing it is probably not an option, since the pipe appears to go under my next door neighbor's property on its way to the storm drain on the corner and somehow I doubt they'd be too happy about me tearing up their back yard trying to find it...

On a somewhat related note, today's paper sez that North Jersey has had fourteenn inches of rain in the past two weeks. That's the equivalent of four months' worth of rain. Yikes.

Ugh... too much rain!!!! Hmmm..... you might have to run a pipe through the old vent and re-route it though your yard and not touch the other one.....

I got lucky - when we first moved into this house, the sump pump battery started going ape $hit.... in the middle of night setting off the alarm that something was wrong with the battery (picture me at 3AM trying to disconnect the battery, turn of the sump pump so me and the kids could sleep!). I was lucky since the house was new construction, called the builder the next AM and they had the plumber out right away. They guy that did the initial install FUBAR'd it, which caused mud to build up in the pump, making it run all the time then eventually burn out. So, got a new sump pump installed correctly.....

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Thankfully I have not had any flodding issues, however we did have some leakage in the front bay window and above the door. We've had those leaks once or twice before, so I was pretty much expecting it this time round.

It only happens when the rain is pounding straight towards the front of the house. It hits a certain angle and seeps in through the capping & bricks. My neighbor has the exact same problem. Just the way the homes were built I guess.

Most people I know have issues with bay windows - something in the design of the things.....

Speaking of which, I better go check mine!!!!

Quote :

Ugh... too much rain!!!! Hmmm..... you might have to run a pipe through the old vent and re-route it though your yard and not touch the other one.....

Yeah, what we're probably gonna do is put in a whole new pipe, probably PVC, in a new trench leading out to the road in front of my house (rather than thru my neighbor's property, haha). Then I dunno, I guess wait for a dry spell in the summer time, mix up a batch of concrete and drop it into the old outflow pipe to cap it off. Haven't figured that part out yet.

The aluminum capping doesn't sit completely flush with the bricks, so unless it's properly sealed with caulk or something similiar, it's gonna leak. Thankfully for us, it's a rare occurance. In the almost 8 years I've been in my house, it's only happened twice. And both times it was monsoon conditions.

The night of the hurricane, I was sitting on the couch watching tv just waiting for that first drip. As soon as I heard/felt it, I said "Ok, here it comes". I got the bucket, positioned it appropriatley and went to bed.

^^ MG, my parents' house has a bay window in front and I remember it leaking whenever we had heavy rains when I lived there too. My Dad used to caulk those damn things every Spring like clockwork, yet every time we had a major storm, water would still sneak in somewhere. Drove him crazy. Haha.

This is less than a mile from by Brother's place:

There are also 2 sink-holes in my neighborhood, one big and one small. I don't know that the hurricane was a direct effect on them, but I sure it didn't help. The big one is right on the street in front of a guy's driveway. A good 12-15 feet in diameter. Big enough to sink a car I'd guess.

thejokeriv wrote:

This is less than a mile from by Brother's place:

wow!

exact33 wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

This is less than a mile from by Brother's place:

wow!

I know!!!! I am a full time telecommuter now, but the office used to be 1/2 a mile from that!!!! I am really happy I work from home!!!!!

Update on my vehicular situation: The Nissan Cube is gone but I'm staying in the Nissan family. Peep the new ride, just picked it up about an hour ago.



That's a 2005 Nissan Frontier. Yup, my transformation into an utter redneck is finally complete. I've been wearing ball caps and chewing tobacco for years, now I own a pickup truck. Yeeeeeehaw!

Nice truck. You could haul a bear in that.

now your going places! I love my truck (a 2007 Dodge Dakota quad)!

Your not yet a redneck - you need a gunrack for that truck!

exact33 wrote:

now your going places! I love my truck (a 2007 Dodge Dakota quad)!

Your not yet a redneck - you need a gunrack for that truck!

And either a rebel flag license plate or in the rear window.

Trust me, I spent 8 years in Tennessee; I know rednecks.

tohostudios wrote:

exact33 wrote:

now your going places! I love my truck (a 2007 Dodge Dakota quad)!

Your not yet a redneck - you need a gunrack for that truck!

And either a rebel flag license plate or in the rear window.

Trust me, I spent 8 years in Tennessee; I know rednecks.

dont forget the pool in the truckbed. I live in the Red Neck part of Maryland...