Flooding in Chicago
- Thread starter zbag51
- Start date
That’s awful, man. Make for higher ground (unless you own the place). What a bad break!
That was an absurd amount of rain
I hope wrassler’s couch made it through unscathed.
I think our house may have been struck by lightning 3 nights ago. There was a HUGE boom about 12:30 am. Scared the hell out of me. Both cats were in bed with me, and they bolted.
The circuit in our sunroom (now Mrs. Jack's office) has not worked since. Another outlet on a different circuit had its breaker triggered (I found this out when the alarm system battery drained down, triggered an alert).
Covid, fires in Australia, locusts, murder hornets, lightning and floods, and a beef shortage at Wendy's: this is the Apocalypse.
The circuit in our sunroom (now Mrs. Jack's office) has not worked since. Another outlet on a different circuit had its breaker triggered (I found this out when the alarm system battery drained down, triggered an alert).
Covid, fires in Australia, locusts, murder hornets, lightning and floods, and a beef shortage at Wendy's: this is the Apocalypse.
I’m not sure that the two cats in bed with you isn’t the most disturbing sign. Even more than the beef shortage at Wendy’s.
When I was a kid growing up on the south side, the basements in our neighbor hood flooded frequently. Everyone had three to four foot standpipes in their basements to keep the floor drains from backing up. They built and incredible drainage system in the late 60s that pretty much fixed it. We had a lot of fun going down into the tunnels, that were big enough to stand in, after the workers went home at the end of the day.As I think back on it, it was a pretty dangerous thing to do.
Know exactly what you are talking about. Grew up near Midway Airport and my parents had just bought a house and went over to see what needed be done before moving in and there was about 3 feet of water in the basement. Had a standpipe at that time but then they had what was called hanging sewers installed. Problem fixed.
This brings back memories I had completely forgotten about. Those huge white concrete pipes sitting on end...the streets shut down and littered with huge equipment.
This was happening as all the huge elm trees were being removed.
Ours came up through the drain in the floor that goes into the sewers. Water damage mitigation company is here right now. We’re gonna have a lot of stuff to throw out once it’s dried out a bit
Thankfully, our Lakeview home, built in 1886 does not flood. I have to keep an eye on the basement stairwell drain cover (I put an atrium cover on it) when it really pours.
I have never seen so much water as I have last night. We have a small back yard with a brick patio. Thankfully, the guys who built the patio about 15 years back graded the slope nicely away from the house so it collects at the rear of the lot There is a low gardening berm along the fence, so it basically pools there. Behind the berm and fence is a grassy yard I call "the back forty." It's about 25 x 25 of open space that belongs to an apartment building, but I have tended to it for years. Little Hungry and I play whiffleball and basketball there. This area also serves as a collection basin for the roof drain of the property next door.
Well last night the basin was utterly submerged. The water rose above the berm (prolly 8" high) and was flowing into my back patio (also along the side where a walkway leads between our properties to the street. All of this was submerged. So there was basically a lake about 50 ft long and 30 ft wide in back.
This "lake" was topping the low grade near the house, and flowing down a brick path into my basement stairwell. The atrium drain cover. was caked with debris, and the water in the stairwell briefly topped the door threshold. I got to it in time before too much water entered in back of the basement (I had dealt with that issue before, and had leveled the floor in the unfinished part of the basement to keep flooding away from the drywall that separates the finished area from the unfinished back area).
I pulled the atrium cover off and watched it drain. It made a giant sucking sound as all that water circled down that 4" pipe.
I have never seen so much water as I have last night. We have a small back yard with a brick patio. Thankfully, the guys who built the patio about 15 years back graded the slope nicely away from the house so it collects at the rear of the lot There is a low gardening berm along the fence, so it basically pools there. Behind the berm and fence is a grassy yard I call "the back forty." It's about 25 x 25 of open space that belongs to an apartment building, but I have tended to it for years. Little Hungry and I play whiffleball and basketball there. This area also serves as a collection basin for the roof drain of the property next door.
Well last night the basin was utterly submerged. The water rose above the berm (prolly 8" high) and was flowing into my back patio (also along the side where a walkway leads between our properties to the street. All of this was submerged. So there was basically a lake about 50 ft long and 30 ft wide in back.
This "lake" was topping the low grade near the house, and flowing down a brick path into my basement stairwell. The atrium drain cover. was caked with debris, and the water in the stairwell briefly topped the door threshold. I got to it in time before too much water entered in back of the basement (I had dealt with that issue before, and had leveled the floor in the unfinished part of the basement to keep flooding away from the drywall that separates the finished area from the unfinished back area).
I pulled the atrium cover off and watched it drain. It made a giant sucking sound as all that water circled down that 4" pipe.
Last edited:
Our basement flooded due to seepage last night in Irving Park. The sump pump was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of water pouring in, it was running continuously but the water was at least a foot higher than when it would normally kick on. Spent an hour baling water with a watering can from the pit into the sink just to get it down to the level it should've been at. Gonna have to chuck the whole carpet and probably waterproof the foundation. Who's got recommendations for a waterproofing company? Perma-seal? US Waterproofing?
Make sure to go with a large company that guarantee/ certifies the work. I had similar problems in 2009 and made a 10,000 dollar mistake by hiring a small firm.
Just a nasty amount of rain. Lots of road hazards too. I ended up directing traffic for an hour or so
US Waterproofing did work on our basement last Fall....expensive compared to the others....but I highly recommend.
I learned through that process that best practice on sump pumps is to switch out every couple of years....ours was on year eight. Maybe start w that.
We already have appts with both Permaseal and US Waterproofing for quotes. Ironically, we made the appointments about a week ago, before our basement flooded.
Luckily (or unluckily) our sump pumps failed a few weeks ago and I replaced them. No problems with this rain
Just replaced one and the guy said that anything more then 5 years old should go.
I'll call them. The sump pump is only 2 years old as we replaced it after we flooded the first time a month after we moved in because the old sump didn't trigger when the water went too high. Thanks for the rec.
I proactively replaced my Zoeller sump pump after 12 years and the plumber said it was still going strong. Not all sump pumps are equal. Zoellers are really high quality but I agree it’s best to be safe than sorry with them. My two pumps were working non stop yesterday.
Last edited:
This does not explain getting in bed with two cats.
I just admit failure and have kept basement unfinished lol.
I just got some seepage (Jeff Park).
I just got some seepage (Jeff Park).
I would love to do that if it wasn't the main area where my kids play...meanwhile the earliest I could get US waterproofing and Perma-Seal to come out is the last week of June. I guess I should've been on the phone with them while I was baling the water out Sunday night if I wanted a timely response.
The last three Mays have all set records. Can someone say Climate Change?
We had about 8” in our suburb over a 72-96 hour period. The May average is less than 4”.
Guess you would have needed to ask my father. usually took the Clark St. streetcar and later the subway/L to Wrigley. Your right in that most of my friends were Sox fans.
Similar threads
