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Ellicott City Maryland Destroyed By 1,000 Year Flood For 2nd Time In 2 Years (1 Viewer)

J

James Daulton

Footballguy
So I live 2 miles above this beautiful town and it's been swept away again.  

From a personal perspective my basement flooded like many others around here.  Is there anything that can be done to minimize this?  The water came into the house basically along the back wall but not on the sides.  And it didn't come in where the floor had been ripped up and drain tile put down before we moved in.  Do I have a company put drain tile all along the back of the house?  Are there any reputable companies you've worked with?

I can kind of deal with this #### now, but if I'm going to stay in this house I don't want to have to deal with it when I'm 70 years old.  I know it can't be stopped but how to best minimize?  

 
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Man, those poor folks. Such a cool, beautiful town. I heard this morning there's at least one person missing.

JD, not sure what you can do when you get 8" of rain in two hours. And the geography of your lot plays in to whether you can do anything.

You may want to get a civil engineer out there to assess it.

 
Uruk-Hai said:
Man, those poor folks. Such a cool, beautiful town. I heard this morning there's at least one person missing.

JD, not sure what you can do when you get 8" of rain in two hours. And the geography of your lot plays in to whether you can do anything.

You may want to get a civil engineer out there to assess it.
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Yea, my lot sits low and my sump pumps run with any rain.  And I know I can't prevent it happening but the water did only seem to come in where the drain tile hadn't been put in.  Since my basement will be down to concrete soon I was wondering if drain tile is still the best approach to this type of thing.  I just know how shady the reputations most basement waterproofing companies seem to have.

 
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James Daulton said:
Yea, my lot sits low and my sump pumps run with any rain.  And I know I can't prevent it happening but the water did only seem to come in where the drain tile hadn't been put in.  Since my basement will be down to concrete soon I was wondering if drain tile is still the best approach to this type of thing.  I just know how shady the reputations basement waterproofing companies have.
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I'd get a civil engineer's opinion before I did any extensive site work. Ar worst, it'll cost you a couple of hundred bucks to tell you you're screwed instead of you spending a gazillion dollars on a rip-off foundation fix.

I can help you search for reputable CEs

 
Is that the town that has tiny cobblestone streets everywhere? I went there once. It's a pretty town.

 
Brutal, don’t know what options are with a month of rain in hours. We have friends there above the hill by the trolley stop so a bit closer to Oella.  Looked worse than the last one, freaking insane videos.  Good luck cleaning up and hope the town can recover again. 

 
Uruk-Hai said:
Man, those poor folks. Such a cool, beautiful town. I heard this morning there's at least one person missing.

JD, not sure what you can do when you get 8" of rain in two hours. And the geography of your lot plays in to whether you can do anything.

You may want to get a civil engineer out there to assess it.
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Then I think of Hawaii getting 50 inches in 24 hours and you just shake your head. 

Sucks.

 
Sorry to hear that. I abhor :NoBan: wet basements. 

If you were ripping up the floor anyway why didn’t they do the whole perimeter last time? 

 
I feel like some FEMA floodzones are due to be updated after what has happened the last few years in several different places (Houston and South Carolina included)

 
Slapdash said:
I feel like some FEMA floodzones are due to be updated after what has happened the last few years in several different places (Houston and South Carolina included)
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Do those maps consider average rainfall in addition to elevation?

 
James Daulton said:
From a personal perspective my basement flooded like many others around here.  Is there anything that can be done to minimize this?  The water came into the house basically along the back wall but not on the sides.  And it didn't come in where the floor had been ripped up and drain tile put down before we moved in.  Do I have a company put drain tile all along the back of the house?  Are there any reputable companies you've worked with?
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I live in Virginia and we had a ton of rain two Fridays ago.  I didn't get any water in the house, but the pressure of the water outside pushed in part of my basement wall by maybe an inch.  I didn't even know it until I noticed a couple of the doors downstairs wouldn't close.  Then I saw the buckling in the drop ceiling and some paneling popped out.  I called a contractor and he came out on Monday and he's betting the wall is cracked horizontally.   The plan is to dig around the house to the foundation on the outside, and remove the built-ins and paneling on the inside to expose the wall.  He thinks the wall will want to straighten once the pressure is removed.  Then put in 3" angle iron on the inside and cover it with drywall, and new drain tile on the outside.  I'm also going to have him grade the front and side yard and REALLY slope it away from the house.  I can't really afford that now either, but it is what it is. 

It's really playing on my nerves, especially since we've had two pretty big storms since then with more on the way.  I expect to really be freaking out when the digging starts as well.  I'm hoping that happens this week if the weather breaks.

 
Things are getting saturated around here, I hope Ellicott City escapes another disaster. It only takes a light sprinkle for water to accumulate in a fashion that would ordinarily require a heavy continuous downpour.

 
Finally had the insurance adjuster out, turns out that since the water came up through the sump pump we're covered.  Drain insurance they call it.  Now lining up waterproof companies and contractors is a pita.  I still have no idea how much insurance will cover, just what the adjuster described we'd need replaced (from the building side).  We're now gathering up a content list to send to the insurance company.

If this doesn't convince the wife to move, nothing will.  Every time it starts to rain heavily (which it does all the time around here now) she starts to freak out and get anxious.

Hopefully I'll be Annapolis bound in 6 - 9 months!  

 
James Daulton said:
Finally had the insurance adjuster out, turns out that since the water came up through the sump pump we're covered.  Drain insurance they call it.  Now lining up waterproof companies and contractors is a pita.  I still have no idea how much insurance will cover, just what the adjuster described we'd need replaced (from the building side).  We're now gathering up a content list to send to the insurance company.

If this doesn't convince the wife to move, nothing will.  Every time it starts to rain heavily (which it does all the time around here now) she starts to freak out and get anxious.

Hopefully I'll be Annapolis bound in 6 - 9 months!  
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Glad to hear that insurance will cover this (minus deductible I'm sure).  There are plenty of great homes up in BMore!  Lots less flooding too.

 
Thanks fellows.  Hopefully the insurance dollars will offset the waterproofing that we need to do before we can sell.  Don't want to dump our problems on another owner without disclosing and doing our best to mitigate.  Then hopefully waterfront near Annapolis here we come...or whatever the freaking wife decides... :angry:

 
The Z Machine said:
Glad to hear that insurance will cover this (minus deductible I'm sure).  There are plenty of great homes up in BMore!  Lots less flooding too.
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Honestly we both love Baltimore and love the vibrancy of being in the city.  But the unpleasant issues one has to face with city living (crime, vagrants, etc) just make it seem like too much of a gamble right now.  I know we should look past all that but it's tough.  If we were young it'd be a no-brainer, but at 50 it's something we have to consider.

 
Update:   The insurance company came up with $18k to re-do the basement.  I haven't seen how they calculated the amount yet but I'm quite happy with that figure to replace some sheet rock and put new flooring down.  We sent them a bill for $5k for water restoration and our list of lost items (totalled about $10k).

We've signed with a contractor for some decent renovations (incl the basement).  I feel like we're not getting too screwed there.  Now on to the waterproofing, we've had two estimates and both came in at $23k.  Both companies will dig a french drain system in the interior of the house (rancher about 60 x 40).   Both said a crew of 5 for a week to 10 days.  This is close to double what I had expected to pay and with the vast majority of the work being labor I'm having a hard time justifying the quote.  But since both quotes were the same, I have no leverage there.  I can get another quote, but say it comes in for $15k, then I'll wonder why it's so low.  I hate having to deal with this crap. 

 
James Daulton said:
Update:   The insurance company came up with $18k to re-do the basement.  I haven't seen how they calculated the amount yet but I'm quite happy with that figure to replace some sheet rock and put new flooring down.  We sent them a bill for $5k for water restoration and our list of lost items (totalled about $10k).

We've signed with a contractor for some decent renovations (incl the basement).  I feel like we're not getting too screwed there.  Now on to the waterproofing, we've had two estimates and both came in at $23k.  Both companies will dig a french drain system in the interior of the house (rancher about 60 x 40).   Both said a crew of 5 for a week to 10 days.  This is close to double what I had expected to pay and with the vast majority of the work being labor I'm having a hard time justifying the quote.  But since both quotes were the same, I have no leverage there.  I can get another quote, but say it comes in for $15k, then I'll wonder why it's so low.  I hate having to deal with this crap. 
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Good luck dude. In Severna Park and need a more significant drainage solution. We back to a largish embankment so the water  can get stuck in our yard when heavy enough then our two pumps usually work overtime and we get some basement water. Multiple bad situations prior when the main pump burnt out and then we were trashed. The heavy ### storms we have regularly make me super tense. 

 
bushdocda said:
Good luck dude. In Severna Park and need a more significant drainage solution. We back to a largish embankment so the water  can get stuck in our yard when heavy enough then our two pumps usually work overtime and we get some basement water. Multiple bad situations prior when the main pump burnt out and then we were trashed. The heavy ### storms we have regularly make me super tense. 
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Good luck to you too.  I'll have the work done and let you know how it turns out.  If the waterproofing solves my issues then just about anyone can be helped.

I'm a big fan of the Severna Park area, it's one of the places I'm trying to get the wife to consider moving to.  I work in Annapolis. 

 
James Daulton said:
So I live 2 miles above this beautiful town and it's been swept away again.  

From a personal perspective my basement flooded like many others around here.  Is there anything that can be done to minimize this?  The water came into the house basically along the back wall but not on the sides.  And it didn't come in where the floor had been ripped up and drain tile put down before we moved in.  Do I have a company put drain tile all along the back of the house?  Are there any reputable companies you've worked with?

I can kind of deal with this #### now, but if I'm going to stay in this house I don't want to have to deal with it when I'm 70 years old.  I know it can't be stopped but how to best minimize?  
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Probably a dumb question, but are your gutters clear and downspouts getting water away from the foundation? My boss had a gutter obstructed and it resulted in water pouring off the roof onto a spot for multiple storms and ultimately she ended up flooded with it coming through the wall at that spot. And I guess another/bigger sump pump isn't an option? Do waterproofing companies guarantee their work?

 
Kinda late to the game here, but a few thoughts:

Usually floodproofing of a basement is done to prevent groundwater from penetrating your basement walls, not usually necessary for only heavy rainfalls if you have proper surface drainage.  

How is the surface drainage around your house and your gutter outfall locations?  Can you dig deeper ditches around your house and still maintain positive drainage downslope of your house?  

I think your instinct of installing drain tile in the back areas where it's missing makes perfect sense, particularly if it's effective in the areas you do have it.

 
James Daulton said:
Good luck to you too.  I'll have the work done and let you know how it turns out.  If the waterproofing solves my issues then just about anyone can be helped.

I'm a big fan of the Severna Park area, it's one of the places I'm trying to get the wife to consider moving to.  I work in Annapolis. 
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Look at Arnold too, way cheaper than Annapolis proper.  If you don't mind living over the bridge there are some good deals in Stevensville and Kent Island.  But then you live on the Eastern Shore......

 
Slapdash said:
I feel like some FEMA floodzones are due to be updated after what has happened the last few years in several different places (Houston and South Carolina included)
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Actually, it's NOAA rainfall maps that need to be updated.  When the rainfall is underestimated it keeps the calculated floodplain levels lower than they should be.

 
thayman said:
Look at Arnold too, way cheaper than Annapolis proper.  If you don't mind living over the bridge there are some good deals in Stevensville and Kent Island.  But then you live on the Eastern Shore......
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I've looked at several places over the bridge and could get an awesome place on the bay...but there's the issue of the wife again...

I do like the Arnold area, Edgewater a little bit but not as much.

 
Buttonhook said:
Kinda late to the game here, but a few thoughts:

Usually floodproofing of a basement is done to prevent groundwater from penetrating your basement walls, not usually necessary for only heavy rainfalls if you have proper surface drainage.  

How is the surface drainage around your house and your gutter outfall locations?  Can you dig deeper ditches around your house and still maintain positive drainage downslope of your house?  

I think your instinct of installing drain tile in the back areas where it's missing makes perfect sense, particularly if it's effective in the areas you do have it.
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We have an insanely high water table here so when it rains hard the table rises and causes us issues.  Both waterproofing companies said they'd drill holes in the block to drain the water so there wasn't constant water pressure in our foundation which is leading to some cracking, etc.  

Surface drainage and downspouts are as good as we can make them.  We kind of live at the bottom of the hill so when it rains good a lot of the water comes our way. 

 
Got it.  Figured you had optimized your site the best you could.  Still think the additional drain tile should be considered.  

Or just GTFO.

 
James Daulton said:
I've looked at several places over the bridge and could get an awesome place on the bay...but there's the issue of the wife again...

I do like the Arnold area, Edgewater a little bit but not as much.
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My dad's family is from what they call South County in Anne Arundel. Galesville, Shayside. Take a look. It's really slow and boring, but also a beautiful place to live and close to Annapolis 

 
I was ready to hire one of the $23k water proofing quote companies this morning.  Have to get it done before the contractor starts.  Decided to try one more local company with good reviews and we know two people who've used them and had good experiences.  Long story short, both prior companies said 5 to 7 days, this company said 3 days.  Their price, $12.5k for the exact same scope except that this dude said 2 pumps are plenty,  and that 3 would be overkill.  This company has a lifetime transferable warranty.  Crazy the difference when all 3 companies do essentially the same exact thing.

 
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