Conrail Windsor St Yard (York PA) Engineering Report

[Dave V]

And... Just as things were moving along nicely... I go downstairs to an inch of water tonight. FML.

But a HUGE thank you to @chicken45 for coming over and helping to bail out.

I think everything will be ok after a few days of drying out.

Just remember folks, water happens, make sure you plan for it with waterproof containers and water resistant construction.

Sorry this happened to you.  I'm no stranger to water intrusion either, and I got lucky (losing only a power strip and a DCC power supply) also.  But yeah, basements are a blessing...until they're not.

[Chris333]

Check your gutters.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Yeah. There wasn't much we could do. The drain in the stairwell in the back just got overwhelmed. I had checked it and it was clear earlier, but water just came so fast that it filled up about 2' of the stairwell itself, to the point that it pushed the panel of the storm door in.

It was nuts.

Luckily, we planned ahead. The carpet is all industrial grade stuff that's meant to get wet, and nothing of any value was low enough to be affected, or wasn't in plastic containers (the Ikea $3 tubs are amazing for this).

The layout all sits on leveling bolts, most of which sit inside plastic "carpet protector" plastic cups, so it's fine.

I think my OneTRAK modules got a little wet, but they seem fine, and some misc lumber laying around also got it (but nothing of any real value).

Like I said, more of an annoyance and temporary hinderance.

Still though, a word of wisdom: plan ahead for the unexpected. Waterproof boxes, mount your important electronics high, etc...

[basementcalling]

Glad it wasn't worse. It rained buckets several times at work today.

[mu26aeh]

Had issues here tonight as well.  Too much rain too fast overwhelmed my 4" drain in driveway at garage, water was about 8" deep at doors outside and was pouring in under door seals.  This happens when you have almost 1000 square feet of pavement to collect water to run to a drain that runs to a sump pump. I curse the man who built this house every time we get heavy rain.  Idea of sump pump is to remove water from house, and he decided to bring water into house. 

Fortunately this kept to the garage.  Glad to hear your went unscathed for most part as well

[Chris333]

They make check valves you can put down in drains. Never used one though.

[conrail98]

Yeah, these storms packed lots of wind and over 2"/hour rainfall. My sump has gotten overwhelmed before but was okay last night. Unfortunately, my neighbor's cars got hit by falling tree debris. Glad you planned ahead with the tubs and bolts. I know I'm going to invest in carpet tiles (or cut up old carpet in 2x4 pieces) just so I can take them outside to dry if water gets into the layout area in the future,

Phil

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Oh yeah, that's the other thing, the carpet is all tiles.

Today's mission is... do we pull them all up to let them dry outside?

[conrail98]

Oh yeah, that's the other thing, the carpet is all tiles.

Today's mission is... do we pull them all up to let them dry outside?

I would, that way you can run the fan on the foundation underneath. Maybe after it stops raining again hang them on your fence,

Phil

[Dave V]

So...  How did the water actually get in?  If I recall correctly, you have a door out the back of the basement.  That would be straightforward.  But do you also have seepage through the walls at any point?  That would need to be addressed ASAP.

[chicken45]

So...  How did the water actually get in?  If I recall correctly, you have a door out the back of the basement.  That would be straightforward.  But do you also have seepage through the walls at any point?  That would need to be addressed ASAP.

Ed usually doesn't have a problem with things coming in his back door.

In other news, I don't know why I'm so sore today. All I was was help him run his shop vac.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

So...  How did the water actually get in?  If I recall correctly, you have a door out the back of the basement.  That would be straightforward.  But do you also have seepage through the walls at any point?  That would need to be addressed ASAP.

Here's how. The drain out back got overwhelmed, and the stairwell filled up.

[wazzou]

It would seem like the easiest fix would be to raise the level of that door threshold by 2-4 inches creating an additional storm barrier.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

It would seem like the easiest fix would be to raise the level of that door threshold by 2-4 inches creating an additional storm barrier.

Yeah, but look at the high water mark... we'd have needed to raise it by 2-4 feet! The real solution is to keep water from getting into the stairwell.

[Dave V]

Yeah, but look at the high water mark... we'd have needed to raise it by 2-4 feet! The real solution is to keep water from getting into the stairwell.

Bilco doors?