Stopped up outdoor drain
Last week we had just under 3" of rain fall in a 24 hour period. The day after the storm I walked over to open a window in the basement and noticed the carpet was damp. There is a door to the outside from the basement near this window. To access the door from the outside requires going down a flight of steps that is surrounded by a concrete wall on two sides and the house on the other. At the bottom of the steps is a flat area with a drain in the center.
Well, as I'm sure you've realized, this drain is stopped up and during the storm the bottom of the stairs must have filled up with rain water.
The strange thing about this is that the steps to the basement are covered and drainage is diverted away from the concrete box via asphalt berms. And we live on top of a hill so, there shouldn't be too much runoff flowing at us. But, none the less, there was water in the basement.
I have tried to unclog the drain with a clothes hanger followed by some Drain-O (which I probably should not have used on a storm sewer...)
Based on what I could feel with the clothes hanger, I think the drain goes down about 6-8 inches and then turns towards the house.
The drain does drain, but only slowly and only to a certain point where there is standing water about 3 inches down into the drain. Which leads me to believe there is a clog beyond that bend somewhere....
Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated. My father-in-law has recommended a plumber to take a look at it but I thought I'd ask here first.
Thank you!
|
Linear Mode
