When it comes to winter storms, certainly the ones that have snow and ice are the ones that get the most attention. These are the ones that snarl traffic on the ground and the airport, they freeze pipes and generally make life miserable. While it might snow here a time or two a year, there have definitely been years without snow. We also get another type of storm that rides the jet stream in from Hawaii. This is our second ‘atmospheric river’ this month.
When we moved into this house twenty-one years ago, it was in the beginning of January. We lived a whole year without seeing any kind of water in the basement and the previous owners only owned the house for nine months. It was never disclosed that the basement got wet. More than likely because they didn’t know. The second January, I walked down the stairs and then stepped in water up to my ankle. The house inspector mentioned where a good spot to put a sump pump but it had gone in one ear and then out the other. After the mess was cleaned up, it was time to start planning.
I can’t believe that I have never written about this before, but I haven’t. Since I have installed the sump pump, I have not stepped up to my ankles in water. It has made a huge difference but it doesn’t stop it all. If it is wet enough, water will weep through the concrete block foundation and it will start coming through the expansion joints in the floor. Believe it or not, most of the water runs down the outside sidewalk, down the basement stairs and then under the door.
If we were going to stay here forever, I would put a drain at the bottom of the basement stairs to prevent much of this. The reason that I have not is that it would really require rebuilding the entire stairs in concrete. It is probably somthing that I should have done but life have been busy. Let’s call it a long term plan.
I have a submersible pump that will go to the worst areas like the one pictured. When the water gets high, it can take up to ten minutes to pump dry. Additionally, when the water is that high, one pumping is not enough. The sequence goes fill, pump, fill, pump until the ground drains, which can take days. For this most recent storm, there was only one day that I had to pump. By then, the rain event had already passed so I knew that I was in the clear.
The good news is that this is not every time it rains. It happens under two conditions: an atmospheric river or when a heavy snow event starts to melt. The bad news about the second one is that when it snows, it tends to freeze. This makes the pump deadhead against a pipe full of ice. I have had to come up with emergency procedures to pump out with a hose into the yard rather than down the driveway and into the storm sewer system. The other bad news with that is that the water tends to run back into the basement by way of under the door. But it is better than waiting for the pipe to thaw.
Last year, there was a forecasted atmospheric river. I got everything ready by getting stuff off the ground, staging pumps and hoses and all that prerequisite work. The rain came and went and the basement did not flood, not one drop. Consider that dodging a bullet because I would much rather roll up a dry hose than spend time fighting the rising tide. It was the only time I had to go into action last year. So, you see it is not every year.
This is one of those things that is part of the rhythm of life. The first time it happened, it was probably a week of trying things and constant vigilance. At this point, I just make sure anything that can get wet is off the floor and stage pumps and hoses. Since I have been working in my office, there has not been a time where I haven’t found a minute to step away an pump for sixty seconds and I don’t worry about it.
We got three inches of rain in a 24hr period of time. When I look at the local rivers, they are not the highest I have ever seen. I would concur that this was not the wettest my basement has ever been. In 2016, we had record setting rainfall, I did take the day off to keep up with things that year. But, then again, there was river water on Highway 99W. That was the first and only time I have ever seen that. That time, I did take a day off of work so that I could deal with the water.
Snow and ice do a pretty good job of messing up the roads temporarily. This is not that but when the rain causes a landslide that wipes out a half mile of road, this can be a whole lot more costly than snow. There are at least three different road closures for damaged highways that the foundation has been washed away. The label is ‘indefinite closure’. An atmospheric river is nothing to sneeze at.
End Your Programming Routine: I love my basement. It is an extremely valuable space for me and completely worth the effort. But, I will be honest, I will not miss this exercise. It changes plans and sometimes wakes me up in the middle of the night. We were going to spend two nights at the beach but I told my wife that I needed to stay and monitor the situation. Fortunately, it wasn’t too bad and we are waiting for the next event. Hopefully, this is it for the year and forever for me.
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