sewer back up

[mbliss57]

into the basement from all the rain..I guess the storm sewers are tied to the black water somehow. Thank goodness for insurance.
It was only an 1" deep and contained mostly to the concrete section..but we didn't know it happened as we don't live down there so it soaked into the main room 1700sq ft finished part.
The wife and my daughter clean up the area Sat & Sun...nothing on floor just sewage remnants as it receded or dried up. We bleached the whole area. By Monday the stink was getting worse. That's when I knew we had bigger problems so I called the Ins co. They had me a check the next day...yesterday and it was mitigated today. All carpet is gone and a lot of air handlers. MY insurance agent talked me into taking the max $15K for basement water. I thought $5K was fine. We didn't even lose any belongings and it's a $13K job. am glad I have a good long term agent who looks out for us. It speaks to long term relations instead of quick cheapest internet price.

 

[Hack]

...MY insurance agent talked me into taking the max $15K for basement water. I thought $5K was fine. We didn't even lose any belongings and it's a $13K job.

Everyone should check their homeowner's policy. i recently found out that basement flooding was not covered on mine (AAA), but could be added.

 

[Salty RI]

My aunt used to have that problem, the area she lived in was very flat and when they got a heavy rain it would back up through a sink in her basement, to cure the problem they put in a check valve.

 

[vigil617]

Bliss, I feel your pain.

As a recent college graduate, I rented a basement apartment from the parents of a friend of mine. It was plain, but clean, and had everything I needed -- kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and living area.

One morning, I heard a noise from the bathroom. Black water was coming up from out of the toilet. I had no idea why. I hadn't even used the toilet that morning. The stuff was spilling out of the bowl, and then started coming up out of the bathtub drain too, and was starting to cover the floor in the bathroom.

I got on the phone to Roto-Rooter, and they dispatched a service guy right away. It took him about 10 minutes to get there. By then, black water -- putrid, nasty, "debris" filled black water -- was covering the floor of the entire apartment.

The service guy pulled on rubber boots, stepped inside, spent about 10 seconds, and came back out shaking his head. I will never forget what he said.

"You got a city problem, man."

Then he left.

Great. Now I had to report it to the city, which sent a team out to investigate and clean it up. Turns out, the sewer line out at the street had plugged with grease, and the connection running back to my apartment happened to be the first one in line to get the backflow.

They disinfected, got all the water out, set up blowers, the whole nine yards.

The owners, who had been out of town, returned later in the day to learn what had happened. Their laundry room next door to my apartment had flooded too. The husband, a really nice guy, forgave me that month's rent and said he didn't know what else to do.

I moved shortly afterward. I just couldn't live in the place, knowing what had been in there.