Basement after flood - Dehumidifier amazing or too much H20?
Discussion
Morning all
Under my house (detached) is my mancave, which has two walls underground. Hard to explain but the house is sort of carved into a hill and the basement exploits this design.
After the biblical weather last week wifey came home to a flooded basement (about 2" underwater), we spent the best part of a night bucketing it out and then bought a dehumidifier and a water sucky-uppy-hoover to finish the job.
We noticed water seeping in from one of the corners where the floor meets the wall (breeze block). Quite a lot at first, nothing now almost a week on. We've had rain quite constantly since and no flood nor increase in seepage.
100% convinced the actual flood was caused by the sewer outside not being able to cope, the fella from the water company agreed with this and they were outside in the road digging it up for two days. The basement has an outside door to a courtyard bit which was underwater and not draining, so the majority of the water must have breached the door.
My question is, although there is no mould, damp nor any smells, the dehumidifier still fills up each day (2.5L container). I wonder if this is normal for a large basement (probably 40ft x 22ft) and whether it would be ok to switch it off or should we leave it on for another week? The water it produces doesnt seem to be decreasing.
We have had one quote for the whole place to be re-tanked (£18.5k) and are getting another for some remedial work around the seeping point tomorrow.
Anyone had any experience of this? Thanks for your help in advance.
Under my house (detached) is my mancave, which has two walls underground. Hard to explain but the house is sort of carved into a hill and the basement exploits this design.
After the biblical weather last week wifey came home to a flooded basement (about 2" underwater), we spent the best part of a night bucketing it out and then bought a dehumidifier and a water sucky-uppy-hoover to finish the job.
We noticed water seeping in from one of the corners where the floor meets the wall (breeze block). Quite a lot at first, nothing now almost a week on. We've had rain quite constantly since and no flood nor increase in seepage.
100% convinced the actual flood was caused by the sewer outside not being able to cope, the fella from the water company agreed with this and they were outside in the road digging it up for two days. The basement has an outside door to a courtyard bit which was underwater and not draining, so the majority of the water must have breached the door.
My question is, although there is no mould, damp nor any smells, the dehumidifier still fills up each day (2.5L container). I wonder if this is normal for a large basement (probably 40ft x 22ft) and whether it would be ok to switch it off or should we leave it on for another week? The water it produces doesnt seem to be decreasing.
We have had one quote for the whole place to be re-tanked (£18.5k) and are getting another for some remedial work around the seeping point tomorrow.
Anyone had any experience of this? Thanks for your help in advance.
It'll take quite a while to dry out. I certainly wouldn't be looking to spend the best part of £20k tanking it after it's only had a week to dry. Tanking isn't going to stop it flooding again under the same circumstances by the sounds of it.
You might want more dehumidification in there and definitely get a moisture meter and take consistent measurements to see how things are progressing.
To put it in context, when it rains a lot over winter, I can pull 2.5l a day out of my dry workshop, just moist air moving in. I recently put seven rolls of loft insulation in there that had been outside in the rain, it took two months to dry those out with the dehumidifier running, warm weather and regular air-changes to stop my tools rusting.
You might want more dehumidification in there and definitely get a moisture meter and take consistent measurements to see how things are progressing.
To put it in context, when it rains a lot over winter, I can pull 2.5l a day out of my dry workshop, just moist air moving in. I recently put seven rolls of loft insulation in there that had been outside in the rain, it took two months to dry those out with the dehumidifier running, warm weather and regular air-changes to stop my tools rusting.
paulrockliffe said:
It'll take quite a while to dry out. I certainly wouldn't be looking to spend the best part of £20k tanking it after it's only had a week to dry. Tanking isn't going to stop it flooding again under the same circumstances by the sounds of it.
You might want more dehumidification in there and definitely get a moisture meter and take consistent measurements to see how things are progressing.
To put it in context, when it rains a lot over winter, I can pull 2.5l a day out of my dry workshop, just moist air moving in. I recently put seven rolls of loft insulation in there that had been outside in the rain, it took two months to dry those out with the dehumidifier running, warm weather and regular air-changes to stop my tools rusting.
Thanks for that, that is good to know. Not expecting the dehumidifier to pull actual water out of the wall, just expected some kind of let up in production.You might want more dehumidification in there and definitely get a moisture meter and take consistent measurements to see how things are progressing.
To put it in context, when it rains a lot over winter, I can pull 2.5l a day out of my dry workshop, just moist air moving in. I recently put seven rolls of loft insulation in there that had been outside in the rain, it took two months to dry those out with the dehumidifier running, warm weather and regular air-changes to stop my tools rusting.
If the planets align and the insurance company agree to it I'll go ahead with the work as quoted, not paying that for it myself. Now we are armed with the tools to suck water up and dehumidify, it might be something we have to live with (or at least prepare for) in the future.
Much obliged!
FerdiZ28 said:
Morning all
Under my house (detached) is my mancave, which has two walls underground. Hard to explain but the house is sort of carved into a hill and the basement exploits this design.
After the biblical weather last week wifey came home to a flooded basement (about 2" underwater), we spent the best part of a night bucketing it out and then bought a dehumidifier and a water sucky-uppy-hoover to finish the job.
We noticed water seeping in from one of the corners where the floor meets the wall (breeze block). Quite a lot at first, nothing now almost a week on. We've had rain quite constantly since and no flood nor increase in seepage.
100% convinced the actual flood was caused by the sewer outside not being able to cope, the fella from the water company agreed with this and they were outside in the road digging it up for two days. The basement has an outside door to a courtyard bit which was underwater and not draining, so the majority of the water must have breached the door.
My question is, although there is no mould, damp nor any smells, the dehumidifier still fills up each day (2.5L container). I wonder if this is normal for a large basement (probably 40ft x 22ft) and whether it would be ok to switch it off or should we leave it on for another week? The water it produces doesnt seem to be decreasing.
We have had one quote for the whole place to be re-tanked (£18.5k) and are getting another for some remedial work around the seeping point tomorrow.
Anyone had any experience of this? Thanks for your help in advance.
my previous houseUnder my house (detached) is my mancave, which has two walls underground. Hard to explain but the house is sort of carved into a hill and the basement exploits this design.
After the biblical weather last week wifey came home to a flooded basement (about 2" underwater), we spent the best part of a night bucketing it out and then bought a dehumidifier and a water sucky-uppy-hoover to finish the job.
We noticed water seeping in from one of the corners where the floor meets the wall (breeze block). Quite a lot at first, nothing now almost a week on. We've had rain quite constantly since and no flood nor increase in seepage.
100% convinced the actual flood was caused by the sewer outside not being able to cope, the fella from the water company agreed with this and they were outside in the road digging it up for two days. The basement has an outside door to a courtyard bit which was underwater and not draining, so the majority of the water must have breached the door.
My question is, although there is no mould, damp nor any smells, the dehumidifier still fills up each day (2.5L container). I wonder if this is normal for a large basement (probably 40ft x 22ft) and whether it would be ok to switch it off or should we leave it on for another week? The water it produces doesnt seem to be decreasing.
We have had one quote for the whole place to be re-tanked (£18.5k) and are getting another for some remedial work around the seeping point tomorrow.
Anyone had any experience of this? Thanks for your help in advance.
similar size basement to yours, tanked, never flooded
got through a dehumidifier tank every two days
FerdiZ28 said:
KAgantua said:
my previous house
similar size basement to yours, tanked, never flooded
got through a dehumidifier tank every two days
Thanks for that mate, thats encouraging. As a total ignoramus on this, is it literally as simple as being underground?similar size basement to yours, tanked, never flooded
got through a dehumidifier tank every two days
1) water ingress (even the driest of areas will have water seeping through, due to it being underground). most of the time it will just be 'dampness' not water pouring in
2) lack of airflow - less windows, and the fact the walls cant 'breathe' like a 1st/ gd floor wall can.
3) you've got a slab underneath which may allow water/ dampness up, and being in the basement, its colder, so more chance of damp
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff