Rain needs to stop.

[The_Tick]

TK2 has a quarter of the carpet in her room saturated with water. I am talking saturated.

So part of the carpet is coming up in a few. Going to take photos.

Drywall is all dry. Roof isn't leaking.

Could it be another crack in the slab? Shit.

[pellegrino]

if it's not coming from above, then it must be coming from below. sorry Tick.

[The_Tick]

It is coming from outside.

Pulled up a quarter of the carpet and no crack. Looked in the closet and there is old water damage on the baseboards.

Here is what happened...

My neighbors on one side decided about 3 year ago to cement in their whole backyard. So when it rains it drains into my yard. My neighbors on the other side put cement running down the length of our yards, sloping away from their house...right into my yard.

Neighbors behind me are about 2 feet higher than I am. My backyard is their drainage.

Right now...my backyard is under 3" of water, and the rain isn't supposed to let up until Wednesday. Our dirt is clay based, so water doesn't soak in too well.

My Church buddy is walking me through this. I am going to have a spring project to install drainage in my backyard and run it out front. Good times.

Effing neighbors. I wonder if there is a way for me to make them share the cost in this shit.

[wuapinmon]

It is coming from outside.

Pulled up a quarter of the carpet and no crack. Looked in the closet and there is old water damage on the baseboards.

Here is what happened...

My neighbors on one side decided about 3 year ago to cement in their whole backyard. So when it rains it drains into my yard. My neighbors on the other side put cement running down the length of our yards, sloping away from their house...right into my yard.

Neighbors behind me are about 2 feet higher than I am. My backyard is their drainage.

Right now...my backyard is under 3" of water, and the rain isn't supposed to let up until Wednesday. Our dirt is clay based, so water doesn't soak in too well.

My Church buddy is walking me through this. I am going to have a spring project to install drainage in my backyard and run it out front. Good times.

Effing neighbors. I wonder if there is a way for me to make them share the cost in this shit.

I'm fairly certain that water laws are the same everywhere, and that you are responsible for water coming onto your property as long as the adjoining neighbor didn't do anything to alter the natural flow. So, the person who is higher, is probably not at fault, but the ones who cement ponded their yard and the others who diverted water away from theirs to yours may be at fault. You might need to get a city person to come look, especially if they didn't get permits for their drainage work. There might be some shared cost for you to install drains because of their changes.

[Blueintheface]

Sounds like you may have a case against your neighbor if you so choose. I hope it gets resolved without too much damage to your home or neighborly relationships.

We had our own situation last week as well but no one but our builder is to blame and ours too is coming from below. Unfortunately our minor crisis came on Christmas Eve. My wife and I spent most of the night removing wet carpet from our basement (only discovered the flooding 15 min before my family arrived for Xmas Eve dinner). I didn't get to start being Santa until after 2am.

Around 10 pm when the family left we saw a light on at our neighbors house and asked if we could borrow their shopvac and a fan and explained breifly our predicament. Out of curiousity they also checked their own basement to find the same had happened to them. At church on Sunday we learned that at least 2 other families had similar water problems.

Richmond Homes can eat shit and die.

[The_Tick]

Sounds like you may have a case against your neighbor if you so choose. I hope it gets resolved without too much damage to your home or neighborly relationships.

We had our own situation last week as well but no one but our builder is to blame and ours too is coming from below. Unfortunately our minor crisis came on Christmas Eve. My wife and I spent most of the night removing wet carpet from our basement (only discovered the flooding 15 min before my family arrived for Xmas Eve dinner). I didn't get to start being Santa until after 2am.

Around 10 pm when the family left we saw a light on at our neighbors house and asked if we could borrow their shopvac and a fan and explained breifly our predicament. Out of curiousity they also checked their own basement to find the same had happened to them. At church on Sunday we learned that at least 2 other families had similar water problems.

Richmond Homes can eat shit and die.

Not that it would help...but you should check out woot.com today. If I owned a basement I would have a handfull of these lying around.

As it is, I have 2 sets on order now for under sinks.

The insurance adjuster came out and gave me a check for 3600.00. Of which, 1600 was for cleanup and mold removal. I figure I am going to do most of the cleanup myself over the next 2 nights. There is a mold spray at home depot for about 40 dollars that should do the trick.

Still have to get the roofer to come out and find out what caused the leak though.

[Blueintheface]

Not that it would help...but you should check out woot.com today. If I owned a basement I would have a handfull of these lying around.

As it is, I have 2 sets on order now for under sinks.

The insurance adjuster came out and gave me a check for 3600.00. Of which, 1600 was for cleanup and mold removal. I figure I am going to do most of the cleanup myself over the next 2 nights. There is a mold spray at home depot for about 40 dollars that should do the trick.

Still have to get the roofer to come out and find out what caused the leak though.

The silver lining will be if you can get the entire mess cleaned up and repaired for less than the insurance check. Here's to hoping the roofer finds a minor and easily repairable problem.

[The_Tick]

So I got a second check from the insurance company for half the amount of the first one. So I have recieved around 5300 for the damages.

Got two companies to come out and give me quotes. 1000.00 and 750. The 750 one has better references and gives a greater warranty. 2 years on on repairs, instead of 1 year from the first company.

And here is the problem....

1. They builders left a bunch of boxes of tile and stuff up in the dead valleys of my roof. This has caused leaves and trash that has gotten up there to collect and help make this problem worse.

2. Instead of installing a "cricket" (Some lead flashing to divert water the correct way), they just used some extra roofing tar and made one up themselves. Why do you do this? Because you forgot the "cricket" in the truck and didn't want to get down off of the roof is what we have been told. Jackasses.

Repair on the roof is happening tomorrow.

I have all the mold cleaned up from the vapor barrier, and I am going to be using Killz paint/primer on the house from before those repairs are done.

I figure drywall repair is going to run me somewhere between 300-500.

So I am going to come out of this okay. Has been a pleasant experience all things considered.

Only downside...TK2 is lobbying hard for the man cave to become her permanant room as it is much larger than her bedroom. I don't think that is going to happen, but I have to shore up TW and not have her be swayed.

[BigPiney]

Good to hear it is getting fixed. I spent all Sunday afternoon that weekend filling sandbags and preventing a flood at one of the members house in my ward. The water was flowing straight down the Sierra and was a 1 ft deep in the street (dirt) outside and was backing up. Luckily she avoided the $12000 in damage that she had in a similar situation 10 years ago.

[wuapinmon]

So I got a second check from the insurance company for half the amount of the first one. So I have recieved around 5300 for the damages.

Got two companies to come out and give me quotes. 1000.00 and 750. The 750 one has better references and gives a greater warranty. 2 years on on repairs, instead of 1 year from the first company.

And here is the problem....

1. They builders left a bunch of boxes of tile and stuff up in the dead valleys of my roof. This has caused leaves and trash that has gotten up there to collect and help make this problem worse.

2. Instead of installing a "cricket" (Some lead flashing to divert water the correct way), they just used some extra roofing tar and made one up themselves. Why do you do this? Because you forgot the "cricket" in the truck and didn't want to get down off of the roof is what we have been told. Jackasses.

Repair on the roof is happening tomorrow.

I have all the mold cleaned up from the vapor barrier, and I am going to be using Killz paint/primer on the house from before those repairs are done.

I figure drywall repair is going to run me somewhere between 300-500.

So I am going to come out of this okay. Has been a pleasant experience all things considered.

Only downside...TK2 is lobbying hard for the man cave to become her permanant room as it is much larger than her bedroom. I don't think that is going to happen, but I have to shore up TW and not have her be swayed.

People in New Orleans would put closed cell foam insulation into problem areas, for what it's worth. It has soundproofing and insulating benefits, and it helps reduce moisture, in spite of Mormon prayers to the contrary.

[MarkGrace]

You have all made me less excited about the prospect of home ownership.

[pellegrino]

You have all made me less excited about the prospect of home ownership.

buy a condo instead