Water Water Everywhere

January 30, 2013 · 3 comments

We’ve had several issues with water at our properties in the past week or so…

First, The WI-1 House was seeing some water intrusion into one of the corners of the basement. Since we had just excavated and braced that wall — along with completely finishing the space — we were a bit worried. Ultimately, our foundation guy determined that there was a “pinch” of some sort in the drain tile (drainage system), and also that there was a downspout draining right into that corner (as opposed to being directed away from the house). After fixing both those issues, the water has gone away, and despite lots of rain the past couple days, has not come back. My foundation guy is very confident that the issue is resolved; the buyer is having their inspections tomorrow, so I’m glad we caught the issue sooner rather than later.

Next, I received the water bill for The Power House the other day. The house is still vacant (we’re hoping to get it rented this week), and water usage for the past 12 months has been (literally) 0 gallons of water/sewer usage. Well, the bill I just received indicated that our usage for the past month was 9000 gallons!!! After some investigation, it turns out there’s a leak in the main line. About 2/3 of the main line runs under the slab to the center of the house, but luckily there is no evidence of any water intrusion in any living spaces, so that’s good. My plumber took a look at the line and *thinks* he can replace it without having to tear up any concrete. That would certainly be the preferred solution — otherwise, we’ll have to tear up flooring along with the concrete. We should know more in a day or two.

Finally, I just received a call from my carpenter/project manager on The WI-2 House. He said there is water intruding into the basement. We just had our foundation guy test the drain tile (drainage system) at that house last week, and it was in perfect working order, so the water intrusion is a bit confusing. The foundation guy thinks it’s likely a combination of poor grading around the exterior of the foundation and a downspout that was disconnected and pouring water right into the foundation (lots of rain the past couple days). I’m hoping that’s the cause and once fixed, the water will dissipate…I guess we’ll find out in the next couple days!

Ultimately, all of these problems are relatively minor, and I’m not going to complain! 🙂






3 responses to “Water Water Everywhere”

  1. george says:

    i had to deal with water in the basement last night. the rain caused the crack in the foundation/basement to leak. extending the downspout away from the house did not seem to fix the issue.

    i have had that basement injected with polyurethane foam (in different areas of the basement). might have to do that again…

  2. T says:

    When it rains it pours. Glad you’ve got the WI-1 house squared away.

  3. Tom Greene says:

    I’m having two water issues myself. One a small leak in an lawn watering system on a flip and I have a sinkhole in the yard of one my properties. Fortunately, the house is not in danger.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

WANT FREE HOUSE FLIPPING STUFF???
Sign up for our Newsletter and get immediate access to our FREE 150+ Page eBook on New Construction, plus all of our business tools: Single-Family and Multi-Family Business Plans, Rehabbing and Buy-and-Hold Spreadsheets, Contract Templates, and more!
We respect your privacy. No Spam...EVER!