Standing water in yard and window well

[Robert S.]

My basement has flooded, possibly due to standing water in one of the window wells. There is water pooling up under the mulch next to the window well on the side of the house, and I can see water seeping into the window well. The house is a year old, and I am out of warranty. Is it normal to see standing water under the side of the yard under the mulch? Also, I cannot step into the backyard as it is very muddy. The builder has corrected grading issues twice before where there was standing water in my backyard, but it looks like the issue was never resolved. How did the water get into my basement? Could there be a crack somewhere? I am really hoping someone could help me with this, as I never slept after this happened and am worried. We put a lot of effort into finishing the basement. The carpets are damaged as well. I have a restoration company coming tomorrow, but for now, I have put a sump pump in to drain the water out. I have attached a video link for reference. Thank you, guys. Video https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-PVmNYqz2zUTy0wHpx65SG7aJ9U...

[John Underwood]

If issue hasn't been resolved then should still be a warranty issue.

They may need French drains to route water away from house and better grading.

Might also need to water proof the below grade wall.

[Leo R.]

@Robert S. sorry you're experiencing this--I've been in your shoes, and it's no fun.

Luckily, I have extensive experience with this type of issue (I learned the hard way when I bought a property that was basically built above a subterranean river that caused three basement floods in about six months!).  Incidentally, the property I had that had this issue was also in Salt Lake City; so, I'm familiar with your area.  

As you probably know, water in the basement will start to produce mold in about 24 hours, so your first order of business is to get the basement dry ASAP. 

You can pay a flood mitigation company to do this, but it will be expensive. You can do it yourself; the process isn't terribly complicated and doesn't require much technical skill, but it is a lot of physical labor, and you'll probably want to get friends to help. You can find videos/articles online on how to get the basement dry, but the basic process is:

1) turn off all electric to the basement (to avoid electrocution from the water), 

2) run pumps to get the standing water out of the basement (sounds like you're already doing this)

3) remove all furniture and items from the basement,

4) once you've pumped out the standing water from the basement, rent a wet/dry carpet cleaner/extractor from home depot, and use it to extract as much water as possible from the carpets (they'll be much lighter and easier to move once you get the water out). 

5) After you've used the carpet extractor to get most of the water out of the carpet, remove all carpet and get it out of the house for drying (if you're trying to salvage the carpets), or throw the carpet out. If you're trying to salvage the carpets, you'll need to get them bone dry in under 24 hours to avoid mold--so,  it's a race against the clock to get them dry fast. If you can get the carpets in direct sunlight, and under industrial-strength drying fans (more on that below), you may be able to get them dry. If it's still raining outside, if you can get the carpets in a garage and under industrial drying fans, you may still be able to get them dry.

6) if the water soaked any drywall, you'll need to cut that drywall out and throw it out.

7) rent a bunch of industrial drying fans from home depot/lowes (they are specifically designed to dry up houses that were flooded, and soaked carpet. They're usually blue, so they should be easy to spot at the home depot/lowes rental desk); put them throughout the previously flooded areas of the basement, and all around the soaked carpet you've removed (if you're trying to salvage the carpet).  If you're trying to salvage the carpet, turn the carpet over once every 3ish hours, and keep the fans on the carpet for 24 hours until the carpet is bone dry.  

8) rent an industrial dehumidifier from home depot/lowes, and run it in the basement for at least a day or two until the humidity of the basement is low. If the upper floors of the house seem humid, you may need to rent multiple dehumidifiers and run them throughout the house.

Follow these steps quickly, and if you can get the basement dry in under 24 hours, hopefully you can avoid mold. Home depot/lowes sells mold test kits you can use once the basement is dried out.

Once you have the basement dry, the next order of business is to figure out the cause(s) of the flooding, and hopefully address those causes to prevent future floods.

There are multiple potential reasons for your flooding--it could be ground water rising up from underneath the house, it could improper drainage around the house, it could be cracks in the foundation or slab, it could be water coming in through the window wells, it could be all of those things, or it could be something else entirely.  

Once you know the reason(s), for the flooding, then you'll be able to figure out a solution.

I'd also strongly suggest that you don't re-finish the basement until you've determined the cause of the flooding and fixed the problem (last thing you want is to re-finish the basement, and have it all ruined again by another flood).

I'd suggest first watching some videos on youtube on flooding, drainage, groundwater, french drains, sump systems, water catchment systems, etc, just to give you a better understanding on what can cause flooding, and what types of fixes might work. 

A few questions might help you figure out the cause:

How much rain (or snow melt) was there before/during the flooding?

Does your house have rain gutters, and if so, where are they draining to? Do they drain into the areas of the yard that are flooding? Do they drain into areas near the flooded window wells?

Are there slopes/hills that drain water towards your house? Is there a driveway/patio/other solid surface near your house that would drain water toward the house?

Is the water in the window wells rain water that's falling in from above, or is it ground water that's seeping up from below the window wells? (or perhaps both?)

Where does the water seem to be entering the basement? Is the water in the basement solely around the flooded window wells, or does it seem to be coming in from other spots? FYI: groundwater raises and lowers (it usually raises after periods of rain/snow melt), and if the slab of the house is too close to the water table--that is, if the slab is too low--ground water can rise, and seep up through the slab from underneath the house. Although this is probably less likely than the water leaking in through the window wells, it is possible, and you'll want to eliminate it as a cause of the flooding before deciding on how to fix the issue, because if it's groundwater, then the solution to the problem may be completely different than if it's water coming from other sources.

As you consider these questions, keep in mind that water follows the path of least resistance--for example, water will flow through a gravel-filled trench much quicker than through solid earth/clay. Obviously, water flows downhill. So, water will be attracted to areas that are porous and/or downhill.  Keeping those principles in mind, you can better understand why the water is flowing into some places and not others, and from there you can design sump systems/french drains/water catchment pits/gutter systems, etc. to force water to flow away from your house (for instance, a french drain will attract water and carry it away from the house. A sump pit with lots of gravel surrounding the sump basin will attract water much quicker than a sump pit with less gravel around the basin. etc.).

When I had my flooding issues, I paid a hydrologist to come out and inspect the property and educate me on how water was moving around the property, and importantly, how water was moving underground near my foundation. It cost me a few hundred bucks, but it was money well-spent, because it helped me understand how to design the flood mitigation system...rather than approaching it via trial and error, I was able to build a flood mitigation system that worked the first time, and the house hasn't flooded since. The hydrologist was located in Salt Lake, so let me know if you want their contact...

Let us know if you have questions.

Good luck out there!

[Leo R.]

@Robert S. also, take plenty of photos/videos to document everything, and keep all receipts...you will probably need those items if you go to file claims with insurers/the home warranty company, etc.

Unfortunately, in my experience, getting home builders/warranty companies to take ownership of problems like this is often more trouble than it's worth...your mileage may vary....

[Robert S.]

@Leo R. Thanks for the detailed response. The restoration company will not be able to come until tomorrow morning. Is it ok to wait that long as we noticed this incident on Saturday morning? Since you mentioned about mold, I am kind of worried about that. Please advice. 

[Leo R.]

@Robert S. if it flooded on Saturday morning, you're already running out of time, unfortunately. You can read up on this online, but most sources say that mold begins to grow within 24-48 hours after flooding--so, if you wait until tomorrow, the mold is probably already starting.

Personally, I wouldn't wait for a restoration company to come 48+ hours after the the flood, only to charge me thousands (possibly tens of thousands) to do something I can do myself. When I had my flooding problems, I generally found that waiting around for mitigation companies, insurance companies, the city, etc to come and solve the problem was a waste of time (they usually took forever, the bureaucracy was a nightmare, and they often didn't provide very good solutions).

When my property flooded, I called all my friends and got to work on it immediately. Another option would be to hire some day laborers to help out.

As I mentioned, the work doesn't require much technical skill (and there are probably lots of useful how-to articles and videos online), it just requires a lot of muscle and physical labor--it's a job where many hands make for lighter work.

I'm in your area, so, after it's dried out, if you want me to come take a look and discuss the possible causes and solutions to prevent further flooding, dm me.

[Robert S.]

Much appreciated. I will DM you.  Thanks. 

[Leo R.]

@Robert S.BTW, if you hire a mitigation company, they may charge a lot less for drying out a basement compared to drying out a basement AND mitigating mold. ...so, if you wait for mold to start, the cost of the mitigation company might be higher (I don't know this for sure, but it's worth looking into)...I've never hired a company to mitigate mold, but I've heard it can be very expensive.

When I was in your shoes, my top priority was getting the basement dry within 24 hours to prevent the mold, so I threw everything into getting that done ASAP. 

Once it's dry, then you can take a breather, and take some time to figure out the cause and solution.

[Robert S.]

Thanks for everyone's help with this. Very much appreciated. The restoration guys found a foundation crack which caused the water to enter the basement from the window well. They said they can seal the crack right away. Should I wait for the builder to come take a look at the crack or just go ahead and seal the crack now? I just don't want to the builder to think that this was not caused by the crack once sealed and hence not accept responsibility of the structural problem. They have a 10 year structural warranty. Please offer your insights asap if possible. Thanks everyone. @Leo R. @John Underwood

[John Underwood]

Quote from @Robert S.:

Thanks for everyone's help with this. Very much appreciated. The restoration guys found a foundation crack which caused the water to enter the basement from the window well. They said they can seal the crack right away. Should I wait for the builder to come take a look at the crack or just go ahead and seal the crack now? I just don't want to the builder to think that this was not caused by the crack once sealed and hence not accept responsibility of the structural problem. They have a 10 year structural warranty. Please offer your insights asap if possible. Thanks everyone. @Leo R. @John Underwood

 I would show it to the builder first.

This problem has clearly been ongoing and never resolved so he should correct it.

[Robert S.]

Quote from @John Underwood:

Quote from @Robert S.:

Thanks for everyone's help with this. Very much appreciated. The restoration guys found a foundation crack which caused the water to enter the basement from the window well. They said they can seal the crack right away. Should I wait for the builder to come take a look at the crack or just go ahead and seal the crack now? I just don't want to the builder to think that this was not caused by the crack once sealed and hence not accept responsibility of the structural problem. They have a 10 year structural warranty. Please offer your insights asap if possible. Thanks everyone. @Leo R. @John Underwood

 I would show it to the builder first.

This problem has clearly been ongoing and never resolved so he should correct it.

 Thanks John

[Robert S.]

@John Underwood can you please check these pictures and advice? The builder is saying that most of the water enter through the window and not the crack to protect themselves I guess. How to prove that the water actually entered through the foundation crack? What are your thoughts with this size of a crack? Thanks brother. 

[John Underwood]

So he said most, but admits some came through the crack.

Get someone else to look at it and give you a repair estimate to repair the crack. This will give you written proof. 

Provide this to him and give him the chance to do the right thing.

You can threaten and actually take him to court. File a statement with the better business bureau. Leave bad reviews on sites he uses for advertising online. 

If he knows you might threaten his reputation he might be more inclined to do the right thing.

Get those quotes documenting that this was the builders fault to back you up. Several would be more convincing than just one.

[Leo R.]

@Robert S. keep in mind that regardless of whether water came in through the crack, the window well should not be filling with water.

So, you have two problems to resolve--the crack, and the window well filling with water.  

Even if you fix the crack, if the window well is still filling with water, it's going to cause problems.

So, you need to troubleshoot why the window well is filling with water, and fix that issue, in addition to the crack.

The water in the window well is either rain falling in from above, or it's ground water rising up from below, or it's a leaking water main/sprinkler line or other plumbing...or, it could be all three of those things, or any combination.

Good luck!