Here comes the rain....

[90LX_Notch]

Well, the next 48 hours could be interesting with 2 to 4 inches of rain heading my way.  At those numbers, my basement shop is subject to flooding.  What is worse, the other half is finished living space.  I've been moving stuff all day that is subject to water damage on the finished side.  Next, I'll do what I can for the shop.  The big worry is the factory oak cabinet that the Rivett 608 sits on.  The way it is built, it is not an easy lift to allow it be blocked up off of the floor.  Tomorrow morning I'll take care of what I can outside, then I have report for work right about when it is all suppose to hit.

The best part of all of this is that my basement only takes on water under certain circumstances and the forcast sounds like they could be met.  So, all of this preperation could be for not.  But, it is better to be prepared then not.

-Bob

[crueby]

Hopefully your weatherman is as full of swarf as the ones here are, and you can use this as an opportunity to just dust behind things!

[b.lindsey]

Best to be prepared Bob, but sure hope as you say that it will only be precautionary.

Bill

[10KPete]

A few days ago we had a heavy rain for a few hours, the heaviest this fall. I discovered a leak in the roof when I saw a puddle on my back work bench!!! So this morning I wandered around on the roof with a bucket of roof patch. I'd intended to patrol the roof this summer but other issues intervened.

The house roof and the garage roof need complete replacement. I received some quotes this summer and they just about killed me! 27 squares for the house, 40 year laminated composition (this isn't called the Windy Hill for nothing!!), and the lowest bid from a local established roofer.......

$15,000 all done.

No garage, he forgot it. It's a three car. About 14 squares.

I haven't done a roof in thirty years but I guess I'm going to go into a physical training program this winter so this beat up 70 year old can 'do it his self'. And because of the prices it will have to be done in sections from one bottom corner to the opposite top corner.

The laying of the shingles is the easy part; it's the stripping off of the old that's real work. That and getting 6-8 bundles of shingles at a time on the roof up a ladder,,, Gonna have to work on that.

Uggggg!!! I am NOT looking forward to this....

But I think this is better than having a basement flood...

Pete

[kvom]

In the spirit of one upsmanship, I have been in Japan  the past 2.5 weeks, and it's rained 14 of those days.  One typhoon last weekend and another tonight.

Good luck with the shop.

[Dave Otto]

Hey Bob

I sure hope that it dosn't end up being too severe and you are able to keep your feet dry.

Dave

[90LX_Notch]

Thanks everybody.

The National Wheather Services causes me more stress.  Most of today the forcast was 1-2 inches for tomorrow afternoon with another 1-2 tomorrow night.  Not long after I posted this thread, the afternoon part of the forcast changed to 3/4-1 inch.  Now it is backup to 1-2!  Tomorrow, it will probably be 10+ inches.

The good news is that I figured out away to lift the Rivett off the floor.  I didn't do it yet.  I am going to wait until I see the forcast tomorrow morning and look at the radar.

-Bob

[crueby]

In the old comedy movies you would just drill another hole to let the water back out!


Here's hoping for just light rain...

[Art K]

Bob,
Our basement doesn't flood but water seeps in the NE corner if the right conditions are met. A few years we improved our odds by putting on new gutters and extending the drain outlets. Now the basement only gets wet if I don't manage to keep the gutters clean and free of debris OR it rains excessively.
Pete,
When I did the addition on the garage for the workshop, I kept the price within our range by stripping off the shingles and siding myself. Probably much smaller than yours.
Art

[10KPete]

Art, when I last did a roof myself I had three or four of my sons friends to help with the whole thing. Nothing like youth for hard work!! But that was about 30 years ago. Maybe I can recruit some "kids" to help with this one.

My brothers house in MA had a similar problem to yours, Bob. House was up on a knoll with the street below basement level. A week end with a back hoe and a bunch of drain pipe and rock around the up hill side of the foundation cured that one!

Pete

[Jo]

$15K sounds a bargain Pete. 20 years ago when I brought my house the kitchen had a flat roof that leaked: I looked at replacing it with a fibre glass  type permanent solution that was over £20K. So for 10 years it was constantly patched with bitumen  I would not want to do that now 

My solution was to have a dining room extension built and to raise/extend the existing tiled roof over both the kitchen and the new dining room. That cost me £28K.... But at least I had something to show for it .

Jo

[gerritv]

I think a sump pump might be a worthwhile investment for occasional water incursions. In our neighborhood there are several houses that have them and they get used after/during long rains. For some reason our basement only gets some efflorescence after heavy rains, running a dehumidifier for a day takes care of the excess.
My brother lives out in the country, his insurance company required installation of one, but it has never tripped in 50+ years. Gets tested regularly to ve sure just in case.

[90LX_Notch]

The house has drains below the foundation.  The gutters dump a disance from the house.  A sump pump would be ideal; but, where I live is nothing but rock.  My brother in law is a mason and pointed out several years ago that we could knock a hole in the floor and be right into a boulder.  Then what? Try another spot with the same results.

I am as prepared as I can be at this point.  The gutters are cleaned out.  The diversion ditch is cleared.  Everything is up off of the floor. 

The damn forcast changes by the hour.  One hour I feel like we will be okay; then the next, I feel like we will take on water.  It is just a wait see situation now.

-Bob

[steamer]

Good luck Bob!   I had an issue with my house when I moved in.   It had an asphalt walk way going down hill directly under the roof line.   Water poured off the roof, down the walkway...and right into the side entrance to the basement.....Like DUH!


Day 2 of my house ownership, I was out at 5:30 in the morning breaking up the asphalt with a sledge hammer and digging a diversion ditch....problem solved.

Good luck

Dave

[90LX_Notch]

Thanks Dave.

I am happy to say that we are dry!  We now have strong winds; so, now the worry is that a tree will come down. 

-Bob