I was thinking about basements the other day, as I was driving to my next job. Almost every home in Pittsburgh has a basement, whether that be old or new! I can recall many, many homes having basement water damage over the years. It was especially when tropical storm Ivan came up from the gulf and “parked” itself over Pittsburgh for more than 24 hours back in 2004.
Although, when a storm like Ivan hits our area, there is really not much that you can do to avoid any on coming flooding. In a case when a big storm hits, I think you just have to wait it out, hopefully after you have moved your important “stuff” as much as possible out of harm’s way. But basement water damage can occur in any number of ways. You don’t have to have a big storm to have some flooding.
Basement Water Damage and Flooding
For instance, a lot of homes have indoor sumps with pumps in their basement. What if the pump fails and water begins to overflow the sump and flood into the basement area? Your sump should be equipped with a high level indicator/alarm; but what if it doesn’t work? It would be great to have a secondary backup.
What if your hot water tank is older and should “spring” a leak? There are a lot of variables including the size of the leak, location, and condition of the nearest floor drain. But flooding is always a potential reality.
Say its laundry day and you’re in middle of doing a load of clothes as well as doing other things upstairs or out back in the yard. And then all of a sudden, one of the hoses from the faucet to the washing machine decides to rupture since the hoses haven’t been replaced in a while. If you’re not in the basement, you don’t know that water may be spraying all over the place, possibly doing some significant damage.
In all of these cases, you would be able to correct the problem by shutting the water off and stopping the flooding; that is, if you knew it was happening. You’d only need to know in cases like this that the flooding is occurring at this moment in time.
Other Instances of Basement Water Damage
Other instances can cause water problems in your basement. What if your “beer & pop” refrigerator in your basement decides to quit working, and defrosts? What if your basement drain happens to plug up just when you don’t need that headache? And what if your AC drain tube from your furnace keeps draining going into the now clogged drain?
I know that some of these types of problems don’t seem to be too, too catastrophic, but if you knew that the water was flowing where it shouldn’t be, it could possibly save you some aggravation. Check out this product from Home Depot and this one from Lowes. They can both give you this detection capability. And they don’t cost all that much! Of course, after you take care of the immediate problem, and shut off the water. Proudfoot can certainly help you out with the root cause of the flooding problem. Give us a call. We can help you with your sump pump, your hot water tank and even your laundry hoses!
So Give Us a Call
We here at Proudfoot always believe that being more informed and having knowledge of a possible problem is better than not knowing. Some leaks you just can’t stop. But if you know quickly that they are happening and act fast, you can save yourself a lot of trouble and possible expense later. If you want anything in your home or basement checked out, please call us (1-412-461-2198). Or contact us here. It always pays to be on the safe side.
