Flooded cellar again...

Don´t I hate that?

I´m at work (till 9 tonight) and my neighbor calls me to tell me that a heavy rainstorm has flooded my cellar.

It´s the second time in two years. The public sewer conduct in the road is too small in diameter and so it pushes back when it rains heavily.

You don´t wanna know what I had floating there in my basement. There are drains in the floor, so the water is gone but the mud and all the rest of the stuff is still there all over the place. Drowned and spoiled furniture and rotting cardboard boxes with boxed up stuff inside and everything.

Gee, I hate it.

Just hope that none of my amps or speaker cabs got flooded.

i went through this many times over the last 5 years last year was the worst, the entire month of march i had 3 Sump pumps running 24/7 trying to keep the water under 3"

if your basement keeps getting flooded from sewer back up you might want to look into a waste backwater valve

http://www.backwater-valves.com/

in the event of a sewer backup the valve closes off to incoming sewer water preventing back flow through the basement drains and filling up your basement with sewer water.

my basement flooding is caused by fresh water run off during the spring thaw and a porous basement foundation , not sewer backup.

Sorry to hear about the flooding. Hopefully you didn't lose any sentimental items such as pictures or family records! Hopefully no Mustang items either.

Yeah I thought about one of those waste backwater valves, but there is a slight problem.

All the water that´s coming from the roof needs to go out that way, so the closed valve blocking the sewer water will also keep the water from the roof from getting out. Ok, my stuff would drown in clean water instead of .... well.

There are some that have a pump, so they can effectively block the sewer back up and press the water from the roof into the sewer bypassing he valve. But those would cost 8300€ That´s € not US$.

So that´s not an option....

Sorry to hear about the flooding. Hopefully you didn't lose any sentimental items such as pictures or family records! Hopefully no Mustang items either.

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I hope not. I´ll see that when I get home tonight.

:s

you could put diverters on the down spouts, its a sliding valve that would allow you to drain the down spouts to the ground and not into the weeping tile system.

Also if your getting that much poo backup, you can bet its clogged the downspout system with foul as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Downspout-Diverter-Musket-inches/dp/B002IXNZDQ

now if you do setup a diverter system then you can use them in conjunction with a rain barrel system

http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Solar-RB6000-Barrel-Capacity/dp/accessories/B003ANNAYC

you can catch some of the water and use it to water the garden or wash your car, etc...

basically when you know heavy rains are coming, Flip the down spout diverters to direct the water out of the sewer system or weeping system, then allow the backwater valve to operate and just don't go to the bathroom for a while

Aw man! Sounds nasty... I suppose I can thank my fortunes maybe for having my own treatment system? If we get a backup, I can thank myself for that one! We did have to have it replaced when we moved in, money could have been better spent that's for sure! Best wishes!

Oh no Mike, please tell me that the Slurm fridge is ok!!

Well, I have diverted some of the drains to go directly onto the lawn and two of them go into barrels to collect water for watering the garden, so that was taken care of.

It´s simply a matter of the sewer line under the street being to small. The municipal administration are aware of the problem and they promised to fix it but those things usually take their time, as they need to tear up the road and everything. So I´ll just have to wait.

Nothing valuable was lost except for my leather couch and my Nikon D70s with a Nikkor zoom lens.

One or two old guitar amps got a little wet, but they should be ok. It´s a good thing those are just plain "old", as opposed to the "vintage" ones that I store higher up.

The worst part was cleaning everything up and getting rid of the goo that had settled everywhere.

The house still smells like an open sewer though. It will take a few days to go away.

Oh no Mike, please tell me that the Slurm fridge is ok!!

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Well actually it is and it ain´t.

It stood in about two inches of dirty water but it had stopped working about a year ago anyway, so the water did not really do any harm this time.

It starts rusting a little on the bottom but that can be fixed.

I keep it for looks only, as it is an original from the late 50ies that used to be my grandmother´s.

One or two old guitar amps got a little wet, but they should be ok. It´s a good thing those are just plain "old", as opposed to the "vintage" ones that I store higher up.

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Sorry to hear about your troubles, luxstang. The Fender Twin Reverbs were stored up high, right? :-/

One or two old guitar amps got a little wet, but they should be ok. It´s a good thing those are just plain "old", as opposed to the "vintage" ones that I store higher up.

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Sorry to hear about your troubles, luxstang. The Fender Twin Reverbs were stored up high, right? :-/

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You got very close! No Twin Reverbs but a Deluxe Reverb and a Bassman plus two Ampegs from the sixties.

And on the non vintage but expensive side there is a Soldano with matching speaker cabinet. All of the above are stored high!

One or two old guitar amps got a little wet, but they should be ok. It´s a good thing those are just plain "old", as opposed to the "vintage" ones that I store higher up.

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Sorry to hear about your troubles, luxstang. The Fender Twin Reverbs were stored up high, right? :-/

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You got very close! No Twin Reverbs but a Deluxe Reverb and a Bassman plus two Ampegs from the sixties.

And on the non vintage but expensive side there is a Soldano with matching speaker cabinet. All of the above are stored high!

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Glad to hear they're safe and sound! I'd hate to think of something happening to my Crown PA amps or Martin accoustic guitar.

Glad to hear they're safe and sound! I'd hate to think of something happening to my Crown PA amps or Martin accoustic guitar.

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Which Martin is it?

Glad to hear they're safe and sound! I'd hate to think of something happening to my Crown PA amps or Martin accoustic guitar.

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Which Martin is it?

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Sometimes I wish it were a D18 or a D24, but it's a humble DXME. I don't care for the unplugged sound, esp the lower tones, but plugged in it sounds good, and I like the finger action since I'm a strummer and not a lead guy. Do you accoustic (I think I saw you with a telecaster in your video)?

Glad to hear they're safe and sound! I'd hate to think of something happening to my Crown PA amps or Martin accoustic guitar.

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Which Martin is it?

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Sometimes I wish it were a D18 or a D24, but it's a humble DXME. I don't care for the unplugged sound, esp the lower tones, but plugged in it sounds good, and I like the finger action since I'm a strummer and not a lead guy. Do you accoustic (I think I saw you with a telecaster in your video)?

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Yup, I have a Taylor 514 and an Adamas 12 string (the Melissa Etheridge Signature model). I use the Adamas a lot with one of the bands (obvious as it is a tribute to M. Etheridge named "Little Secret") but the Taylor spent most of the last 3 years in its case. I think I´ll have to let that one go sooner or later. Too valuable to just keep laying around.

Telecasters kick butt. I got 3 of ´em. I did not use one on the vids though.

Got an original vintage Strat too (1964) that I love.

Cool stuff, Mike. Thanks for the info - sounds like fun.

Doc

Sure does!