Is basement flooding common (Chattanooga: how much, buying a house, buying)

[TNKY]

While we await our house to be sold, we have a wonderful new problem in our subdivision: basement flooding. We had 3 feet of snow melt during 2 days of downpouring rain and now everyone's basement is flooded. This is a big problem here in Michigan, I wondered how much of a problem it is in Chattanooga. Thanks.

[dasmarian]

It really probably depends most on when the house your looking at was built. A lot of homes in N Chatt are old and the basements weren't designed to be waterproof. Houses on a slope have this problem to a higher degree. Some people have tried to remediate by digging trenches around the house, pouring addl concrete, etc.

If you are looking at a new home its probably not likely to leak.

[BlueCuzco]

In general, I think the problem is rare in Chattanooga. At least, I haven't ever heard of someone with a flooded basement.

[TNKY]

Originally Posted by BlueCuzco

I haven't ever heard of someone with a flooded basement.

Wow, sounds like a place I could get use to. Even many of my neighbors sump pumps can't keep up and they're forced to buy a 2nd one. I stayed awake ALL night emptying our wet-vac over and over and over. Since we are the highest house in the subdivision, we were told we'd likely not need a pump. Wrong. So, while we wait until tomorrow to get one, I get to...yep, stay up and do it all again. And now it's raining again. If only I could snap my fingers and be down there

[Creekcat]

Don't they make some kind of sealant for leaky basements?

[TNKY]

If there's a sealant, nobody here knows about it (and that includes my nieghbor who does home repair). It's 338am and I'm still getting rid of water. What a nightmare.

[leonard]

Originally Posted by TNKY

If there's a sealant, nobody here knows about it (and that includes my nieghbor who does home repair). It's 338am and I'm still getting rid of water. What a nightmare.

They make sealants but to really work they need to be applied to the outside of the basement wall prior to back filling. The interior ones work for a while, but hydraulic pressure behind it from water leaching in can eventually overcome the seal.

[PunkGuy]

Originally Posted by TNKY

While we await our house to be sold, we have a wonderful new problem in our subdivision: basement flooding. We had 3 feet of snow melt during 2 days of downpouring rain and now everyone's basement is flooded. This is a big problem here in Michigan, I wondered how much of a problem it is in Chattanooga. Thanks.

One word of advice...structural engineer!

I've had this issue and had to go to court over it, so make sure you get a structural engineer (not a normal house inspection) before buying a house

[Stone1]

Use Drain Tile inside the footing and on the outside. It is cheap to do or do it yourself. I have built three homes the first was in sand with no drain tile the other two were in heavy soil. The builder talked me into doing it and the family and I did the labor, thank god we did it. Our third home I said from the start I was doing it and again did the labor myself and it paid off, never a wet basement even with record flooding the past two summers.

[MountainAire]

If you are in the foothills, lookout!
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