walk out basement drain

[ed kerns]

I have a walkout (or walk up) basement. There is a sliding door, a small concrete landing and 4 or 5 steps up to grade. There is a drain in the landing which I have recently discovered goes nowhere. I assumed that the drain was only clogged, but the last time we got a hard rain, the landing flooded and a small amount of water flowed into the basement. I tried to ream it myself with no luck, so I called a plumber and he verified that the drain went about two feet into the ground and stopped. Well this afternoon we got about 4 inches of rain in a very short time and -you guessed it- my finished basement flooded. I guess this problem isn't going to go away on its own, so I'm looking for a solution. To make the problem a little more vexing, there is a second story deck built over top of the walk out. I've thought about an under deck system for carrying water away, unfortunately the deck only partially covers the walk out, so I could reduce the water flooding the landing, but I couldn't stop it.
I'm probably about four feet below grade where this fake drain sits. I see two alternatives. Either I break out the landing and trench to a drain. I think I could drain to a ditch about 200' away. Or I break out the pad and install some sort of sump pit and a pump. No fun either way. Has anyone been down this path who can offer advice? I've lived in this house for 12 years and I've gotten just a little water in the basement on two occasions. Today makes 3 and is by far the worse. Thanks.

[EricU]

A previous owner of our house put in basement doors, and then put a berm around the doors so that the water would not drain in. The people we bought the house from didn't like the berm, so they paid someone to come in, take all the topsoil from about 1/3 the yard, and sloped the lawn back into the house. As you might surmise, that led to flooding. I tried the sump pump approach, but that's not easy. It usually flooded when it rained hard and there was snow on the ground. There is no easy way to put in a french drain or anything like that, our lawn doesn't have much slope in it from that end of the house.

When we replaced our deck, I had them dig about 6' down and put in gravel. I also had them raise the level of the yard around the landing. It works. I have wondered if it will stop working sometime in the future as the gravel gets fouled.

[live4ever]

I have EXACTLY the same setup as you're describing, deck and all. Your post reminds me I need to figure out if that drain ties in somewhere or not, especially with El Nino coming this year and me putting a lot of hard work into finishing the basement.

Good luck, I hope you get some good advice - I'll be following this thread closely.

[Foggy]

You might poke around in the drain when it has some water in it to make a mud slurry and suck it out with a shop vac. With luck you might get past the mud into some sand or gravel. If not the only thing ventured is some time and effort.

[X93]

Ugh. Lazy on the builder's part. How hard would it be to run a pipe away from the house before the landing is complete!?

I think the good news is you can run a drain pipe.

The bad news is you need to get ready to fudge over some cash to have somebody excavate down enough to access the drain and then dig a trench .... or you need to eat your Wheaties and get your shovels ready. You could also rent a mini excavator/backhoe.

Sorry, man.

[theeviltwinn]

That works if you have a place to run the pipe. I've seen plenty of houses (mine included) where the basement is the lowest spot on the lot. Only a pump will work.

Twinn

[Herb G]

One of my old neighbors had the same setup you have.
He dug out a sump pit & added a sump pump in the bottom slab of the concrete.

HTH.

[MstrCarpenter]

Sucking out the mud and installing a sump pit and sump pump are good suggestions, and is exactly the way I would proceed. If drainage doesn't improve with the shop vac, it will certainly be better by digging deep enough for sump pit. The pump may not even be necessary, but I would install it anyway for those rare occasions. Think of it as cheap insurance or compare the time and money spent against what it would take to clean up the mess and repair water damage.

[ed kerns]

Thanks for the input everyone. I guess it really comes down to a couple choices, I either dig a pit (with or without a pump) or I trench a drain to daylight. As I said, I do have a ditch a ways behind the house. I think I'll shoot the grade and see if I have enough fall to go that way. If there isn't, my choice is made.
One other question to consider, If I dig a pit, and if I install a pump, will I have problems in the winter? I wouldn't expect it to have to actually pump in below freezing temps, but it would be subject to snow and ice.

[Herb G]

As long as you keep the cover on the pit, you should be fine.
A sump pit is a good 2' deep or more, so you shouldn't have problems with freezing, but you never know.
You can always buy a cheap aquarium heater to make sure it doesn't freeze, & stick it in the pit.
I would add a receptacle outdoors to plug in the pump to, should you go that route. You definitely don't want a cord running thru a door or the like.