Evidence of Flooding

[Mark P]

Question: If the partially finished basement of a 1950’s home has been freshly painted and new carpet installed is there any way to find evidence of previous flooding? There is no visible staining, etc, no rust in the furnace cabinet.

The reason I ask is we received a lot of rain last week (4-6? and a January customer called saying his basement flooded. He is not upset at me; he is upset with the previous owners who did not disclose, and may have covered up the fact. He wanted to know how he might find evidence / proof that the sellers knew the basement flooded in a heavy rain. I suggested talking with the neighbors, but could think of nothing else. Any ideas?

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by AHIS

Question: If the partially finished basement of a 1950’s home has been freshly painted and new carpet installed is there any way to find evidence of previous flooding? There is no visible staining, etc, no rust in the furnace cabinet.

The reason I ask is we received a lot of rain last week (4-6â€

[Scottpat]

Short of talking with the neighbors I don't know what else could be done. If it had flooded in the past and all of the old damage or in this case evidence had been covered over or replaced it will be almost impossible to tell. Is it possible that the basement never flooded in 50 years? Yes, it is possible but not probable.

[Brandon Whitmore]

Find out if contractors did the work in the basement and try talking to them.

[hausdok]

Hi Mark,

Could it have been a once-in-a-lifetime type of circumstance? Did the flooding reach the furnace? If so, and it had flooded previously, it would have been pretty hard to completely remove the water line from every inch of plenum or ducting at floor level. If you didn't see a water line in there, and none of the basement framing that was accessible (under the basement stairs for instance) had water stains on it, then maybe it never flooded previously.

The past few winters have gotten progressively worse in terms of rainfall. I haven't had past customers call me about flooding until this year; and those who did have lived in their homes for years without flooding. One guy has lived in his home for 8 years and never had a drop get into his basement until this past winter. This year it was just too much. The ground couldn't absorb any more water and hydrostatic pressure was forcing water into homes everywhere.

OT - OF!!!

M.

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by hausdok

Hi Mark,

Could it have been a once-in-a-lifetime type of circumstance? Did the flooding reach the furnace? If so, and it had flooded previously, it would have been pretty hard to completely remove the water line from every inch of plenum or ducting at floor level. If you didn't see a water line in there, and none of the basement framing that was accessible (under the basement stairs for instance) had water stains on it, then maybe it never flooded previously.

The past few winters have gotten progressively worse in terms of rainfall. I haven't had past customers call me about flooding until this year; and those who did have lived in their homes for years without flooding. One guy has lived in his home for 8 years and never had a drop get into his basement until this past winter. This year it was just too much. The ground couldn't absorb any more water and hydrostatic pressure was forcing water into homes everywhere.

OT - OF!!!

M.

You guys are way more generous than I am. If I'm inspecting a 1950s house and it has new paint and new carpet in the basement, it's a leaker.

The sellers may not even realize that they're being dishonest in covering it up. In their minds, they believe that it only leaks during "heavy rains" or "it only happened once or twice while we owned it" or "blah, blah, rationalization of your choice, blah, blah."

The fact is, these folks are fooling themselves as well as the buyers and the inspector. Don't fall for it.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Chris Bernhardt]

Like the sewer scope issue, not making some kind of recommendation to have the drain scoped, I have wondered lately if I shouldn't be providing a warning for basements that unless there is a working perimeter footing drain system yada yada yada, the basement could leak in a year with high rainfall or some other piece of adequate warning.

Chris, Oregon

[kurt]

Originally posted by Chris Bernhardt

Like the sewer scope issue, not making some kind of recommendation to have the drain scoped, I have wondered lately if I shouldn't be providing a warning for basements that unless there is a working perimeter footing drain system yada yada yada, the basement could leak in a year with high rainfall or some other piece of adequate warning.

Chris, Oregon

I say something along those lines all the time, if I think it applies.

Basic CYA.

Folks never used to get worked up about this stuff. They knew bsmt's. get wet.

[Brian G]

I don't see many basements here, but I've begun including a "basements are almost impossible to keep water out of" type warning. Waterproofing a basement here is an amatuer pursuit, since no one could possibly make a living out of it. I don't care what it looks like today, someday it's virtually certain to leak.

Brian G.

Flooding Could Wreck Your Rec Room []

[fqp25]

Mark,

If anything else I would advise the client (and everybody else) to take as many pictures of the flooding, and damage right now. If FEMA declares it a disaster there might be some assistance for him/her. FEMA has already declared a lot of counties in Missouri, disaster areas.

What happened in East Central Illinois, with flooding from Jan & Feb, FEMA didn't declare it until March, and a lot of people had already cleaned up, and fixed up their damage, so when the FEMA inspectors came around it was hard to determine the exact damage. A lot of people feel they didn't get what they should have.

Frank

Stay dry down there...

[mthomas1]

is there any way to find evidence of previous flooding? Any ideas...

I've caught a few by probing the newly painted bottoms of stringers, etc. for rot - it's not conclusive, but it's suggestive, and it adds weight to a report of possible concerns.

[Home Pride]

They can order a Clue Report to see if an insurance claim was filed.