Leaky Basement?

Okay, some of you know that even before we left on our trip, we found puddles of water in our basement every week or two. We couldn’t find any correlation with the weather, we were told there was no break in the city water line, and every expert we brought in had a different opinion.

Some thought it was ground water, and suggested sump pumps. Others said it was most likely a plumbing issue and they’d need to “camera” the line to see if they can spot leaks (pretty expensive), then dig up the concrete and fix it (even more expensive). Others said it’s a small enough leak that patching around the edges of the wall would divert the water and fix the problem. (I tried. It didn’t work).

Well, guess what? While we were in Panama, my sister said that we had absolutely NO water in the basement! Even after heavy snowstorms. But as soon as we got home and we ran a few loads of laundry along with the dishwaster, we found our basement soaked the next day.

“That proves it!”, I said. It must be a plumbing issue – a leak in the pipe somewhere! So I called a plumber (a different one than we’d called before – Rescue Rooter). He came in, heard my story, and the first thing he noticed was that the little plastic pipe coming from the water softener wasn’t properly set in the drain. It was just out on the floor. He told me that every week or two, depending on use, water softeners shoot out about a tank full of water as part of the regeneration process.

I didn’t believe him that this could be the cause. The water was much more dense by the wall, and was never near the pipe. And it went clear to the other side of the room, skipping parts in the middle. It couldn’t be! Could it? He put the softener through a regeneration cycle, and sure enough, out came lots of water! Eventually, it all made its way toward the wall, causing some puddles to form.

He put the pipe in the drain properly in under one minute. Problem solved!

Can you believe that I have had over five “professionals” – including the city water guy, city sewer guy, and several plumbers – come into my house, and none were able to figure that out? In addition, most offered expensive solutions (over $1500) to solve the problem, sometimes even just to see if there was a problem! I’m sure glad I had someone else come in before I went ahead and spent the money.

As far as how the pipe got out, I don’t really know. But I think it may have been moved by someone I had come give me an estimate to remodel the basement several months ago.

Anyway, I’m really glad this issue is solved and that we don’t have a leak in our basement! Yay! Now I can get back to putting the storage room (and my office) back together.