[PCRepairSince91]

Hi,

I recently bought a home in Watseka Illinois. My lovely home is in a FEMA floodplain. :vs_worry:
Sugar Creek is 100 yards away and floods my home when we receive more than 6" or more of rain. Recently (12/30/15) my home was surrounded with 4 ft of water along with everyone in a square mile area.

My basement flooded with 6 ft+ of clean river water knocking out my hot water heater and furnace.

I have one working sump pump that worked tirelessly but it was just recycling water into the lake around my home until the flood receded.

Is there any steps I can take short of building a 20 ft concrete wall around my property to prevent future nightmare's?

I love my home but starting a fish breeding pond in my basement is not a good option.

Thanks in advance for any basement water proofing fix it myself options!

Cheers,

Joe

 

[joed]

There is very little you can do with 4 feet of water surrounding your home to keep it out other than possibly sandbagging or moving to higher ground. But then the sewer will will backup into the basement.

 

[Akpsdvan]

Wall sounds like it might work, but then you have to run it past EPA , FEMA and the Army Corp....

Where does the water come in from? walls or floor?

Life in the flood plan is made harder by the Army Corp changing things in the idea that they are making things better but really they are making it harder.

 

[keithhe]

Sadly, in your situation, there would simply be no way to effectively seal every possible entry of the ground water up that high. I could see a LOT of pumps being used, assuming you have electricity to run them all, through pipes away from the house, but these would need to run 24x7 for period of time needed water to recede.

 

[AllanJ]

Caution: If you succeed in sealing the basement, you may or may not run into a new problem, buoyancy. The entire house, foundation and all, could float like a boat out of the ground, most likely with the foundation cracking as well. When the foundation cracks, then water will rush in like it did to the Titanic and your house will settle back down to approximately the same position it was in originally.

To prevent flooding of the basement you need at least all of this:

1. The foundation walls coated with waterprooofing outside.
2. Sandbagging to keep water from lapping up against the house.
3. A fully working perimeter drain system and sump pump(s).
4. Power to keep the sump pumps in operation and keeping up.
5. All drains below the level of the water outside temporarily plugged. This can be tricky with toilets because the water pressure could burst the wax seals outward; sideways.

The further away from the house the sandbag wall is, the slower the surface water seeping underground will get into the perimeter drain system. In turn it will be easier for the pumps to keep up. Also the less porous the soil/earth/dirt/ground (more clay, less gravel or sand, not hastily backfilled with rocks with spaces in between) the slower the surface water seeping underground ...

Yes, the sump pumps will be recycling the water over and over until the flood recedes but the trick is to retard the total amount of water invading from all sides so that the pumps can keep up.

And now, my short answer to the whole dilemma. Sell the house and move.

 

[Gymschu]

You're going to spend more in preventing flood damage than you did on the home in the first place. Gotta agree with AllanJ, fix it up as best you can and sell.

 

[jimn]

Some homes in our area moved all of the mechanicals out of the basement and there are no walls, wood etc. nothing is stored in the basement. When it does flood , nothing gets harmed . Pump it out and dry it out .

 

[Bondo]

Some homes in our area moved all of the mechanicals out of the basement

Ayuh,.... That's the Only real answer,....

Maybe a 6" trash pump could keep up,.... Donno,....

 

[Windows on Wash]

+1

Can you just convert the basement into a pseudo crawlspace that can be finished with moisture insensitive materials? Move all the mechanicals up a level.

 

[PCRepairSince91]

Some homes in our area moved all of the mechanicals out of the basement and there are no walls, wood etc. nothing is stored in the basement. When it does flood , nothing gets harmed . Pump it out and dry it out .

Yeah, my furnace is already horizontal and raised about 4ft up.
Sump pump failed otherwise the only issue would have been the water heater.

Was considering a tankless water heater on the ceiling of the basement.

My electric box is 10 ft up and hasn't got wet yet.
My home was made in 1926 and only got flooded in 2008 and this year.
The once in a 100 year flood happened twice this year.:surprise:

Our mayor needs to bribe the army corp of engineers and fix this!

I guess at this point:

1. What's the best tankless on demand water heater?
2. What's the best sump pump?

Thanks for all your input!

 

[Bondo]

2. What's the best sump pump?

Ayuh,.... They can all fail,....

Think redundant,.... install 2 or more to back each other up, when failure happens,...

 

[keithhe]

Yeah, my furnace is already horizontal and raised about 4ft up.
Sump pump failed otherwise the only issue would have been the water heater.

Was considering a tankless water heater on the ceiling of the basement.

My electric box is 10 ft up and hasn't got wet yet.
My home was made in 1926 and only got flooded in 2008 and this year.
The once in a 100 year flood happened twice this year.:surprise:

Our mayor needs to bribe the army corp of engineers and fix this!

I guess at this point:

1. What's the best tankless on demand water heater?
2. What's the best sump pump?

Thanks for all your input!

I like the Rennai tankless.
For sump pump, depends on what you have available. IF, you have city water, as it rarely if ever goes out, I would consider a water pressure pump for sump power backup. No batteries or electricity needed. If on a well battery or generator might be only backup.

 

[IslandGuy]

Yeah, my furnace is already horizontal and raised about 4ft up.
Sump pump failed otherwise the only issue would have been the water heater.

Was considering a tankless water heater on the ceiling of the basement.

My electric box is 10 ft up and hasn't got wet yet.
My home was made in 1926 and only got flooded in 2008 and this year.
The once in a 100 year flood happened twice this year.:surprise:

Our mayor needs to bribe the army corp of engineers and fix this!

NO!

Yo need to not buy a (substantially discounted) house on a flood plain and expect others to take responsibility for your idiocy.

I guess at this point:

1. What's the best tankless on demand water heater?
2. What's the best sump pump?

Thanks for all your input!

My input would get deleted from this quicker than goose crap slides through a tin horn.

Fools buy on sand.

 

[keithhe]

NO!

Yo need to not buy a (substantially discounted) house on a flood plain and expect others to take responsibility for your idiocy.



My input would get deleted from this quicker than goose crap slides through a tin horn.

Fools buy on sand.

Pretty sure the OP does not need your critique. Lots of people are classified in a flood plain in the US, and moving is not always an option. Try answering the question posed or move to another topic where they ask for a critique.

 

[PCRepairSince91]

NO!

Yo need to not buy a (substantially discounted) house on a flood plain and expect others to take responsibility for your idiocy.

My input would get deleted from this quicker than goose crap slides through a tin horn.

Fools buy on sand.

I am just asking advice to fix some things.

How did you perceive I am asking others to take responsibility for my "alleged" idiocy?

Did I ask you to pay for it?

Why are you inputting goose crap thru your tin horn = Seems like a waste of time...


P.S. My home's foundation is on Granite

 

[mikegp]

This might work for you. Have at it.

 

[Tom738]

This is the story your question reminds me of:

http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/08/nasa-versus-nature-august-29-2005/

In terms of total solutions, there aren't a lot that I see. Sandbags or some other kind of wall capable of holding back the weight of the water + current, together with redundant pumps capable of pushing a LOT of water back over the wall. You're basically talking about turning your home into an Island fort.

I suppose you could also turn your home into a deliberately buoyant or height-adjusting structure and anchor it really well. Maybe jack it up off the existing granite foundation and put it on hydraulic lifts or in a truly watertight sealing job/hull. I would like to see the building inspector's face when you apply for the permit for that one...

Oh, and consider keeping a cheap boat or other buoyant object at the house in case you need to get rescued or anything. (Would one of those kiddie pools work?)

 

[throrope]

I suggest you look into raising the house. I recall FEMA has accommodations for this solution.

 

[windowguy]

You asked the Army Corp of Engineers to fix this.. so yes you are asking other people (their taxes) to pay for it.

You bought a house knowing it was in the flood map. If your mortgage company is making you pay FEMA flood insurance the price you paid for the house was discounted for those outrageous flood premiums.

There are millions of homeowners in the same shape as you.. the house is in the NFIP, but they RARELY if never get water.. but sometimes they do. but year after year they are forced to pay outrageous flood insurance premiums. Starting in 2014 private insurers are finally underwriting the market for AE zones because FEMA premiums have tripled. go to www.privatemarketflood.com to get a quote at half the rate that FEMA charges. (I have no affiliation with any company involved. I just want to pass on the savings that are available that many people don't know about and are crippled by FEMA premiums. Yes, this applies to Freddie and Fannie mortgages and all banks accept the coverage. Its new.. check it out.

 

[windowguy]

I suggest you look into raising the house. I recall FEMA has accommodations for this solution.

they only offer this option if the property is considered a "repeat offender".. the OP said there have only been two incidents in a long time..