[chukkles77]

I'm looking for a home in Stratford and every basement I've been in has a sump pump and a dehumidifier running. Does Stratford have a high water table? I even saw one house that's listed as being in a flood zone.

[itscolduphere]

Are you from NC? I see you post a lot on the Raleigh forum... I looked because you seemed unfamiliar with sump pumps?

I'm from North Central CT currently "camping" in the Triangle area :-)
Anyhow, I'm also originally from the midwest. I've owned homes in both places. Most people with basements have a sump crock/pump for emergency purposes at least... just in case the basement ever floods. (heavy rains, etc.) The exception would be if the house is built on high ground or into a hill and the basement drain is able to be drained to daylight (to a lower place in the yard). A dehumidifier running in the basement in the summer is the norm. You don't want humidity to get above 50% or you will have moldy basement contents. It gets shut off in the fall/winter when the humidity is lower.

If you are concerned about a high water table, when looking at these houses here's something you can do: Look in the sump crock (the hole the pump is in). If you see spiderwebs and a very small stagnant looking bit of water, or no water at all, and dry edges inside, this means the sump probably hasn't had to kick on and it's probably a dry basement, at least this time of year. Where I was in CT, autumn was our sump pump's most active season and we did have a high water table. I would be concerned about a high water table if the pump is running frequently while you're there. Look in the sump upon entering a house, try to listen, look again before you leave & see if it's kicked on again?

The Town Hall should have maps of the areas with high water tables.. we got this info. from the Town Hall where we were. It's good that you're cautious. Of course I would not even look at anything listed in a flood zone.

(This is just a tip: I'm NOT a home inspector and not liable for any damages :-)

[joanchris2000]

The dehumidifier running all summer is "standard practice", and yes, it gets turned off come Sept.
As for the sump, we had a drain in the floor of our basement where the hot water heater was, never a drop of water around it, however, our side of the street was slightly elevated compared to the homes on the other side, several of those homes had sump pumps that were used and experienced minor basement flooding several times during our 14 yrs in the house. I guess from being lower than us and receiving runoff from the street.

[Lincolnian]

I looked at a lot of properties in the West Haven shoreline. Almost all of them with basements had sump pumps. Many had obvious water damage on the walls and were very damp. I choose to buy a house on piers with a crawl space and avoid the water problems.

When building my current home I put in a drainage system under the foundation with appropriate aggregate and gravity-fed drainage to the low-side of the property. I have never had water issues even though many of my neighbors have.

If water was a known issue and the appropriate measures were taken prior to construction you should have little to worry about. Trying to remedy the problem after the fact can be a constant battle.