Flooding

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Well, my sis's place floods everytime with heavy rains. Her barn has got over 8 feet, their basement, over 3 to 4. They have sliding glass doors there, and think the water is coming in thru it; will bricking them up stop this in the basement? Would a sump pump help with this amount of flooding? I recommend a sale sign.:p
 
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The solution is called a dike, and a gas powered trash pump.

Rancher
 

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Rancher, thank you for responding,

I am going to ask this, and while asking it, I am laughing, but, what is a dike ? lol. I am thinking about how it relates to the flooding, lol. Could you please explain? Also, the second part, the trash pump, I think you said? Where exactly if you don't mind, would these be used? In the basement, on the inside, or in the stream that is nearby?

What if anything, would a sump pump do for these people? I had suggested it to her, and she didn't know either. They have a severe flooding problem. Her husband is ill alot of the time, so, he can't do much, unfortunately. It is pretty much up to her. Or can the flooding be so drastic, that a sump pump would be virtually useless?

Thank you in advance for your response. :)
 
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Cookie, a dike, not a dyke...

A dike is an artificial earthen wall, constructed as a defense or as a boundary. It is also known in American English as a levee. Otherwise known as a berm...

In other words you build a dry lake to keep the rising water out, I saw one on the news when the Mississippi flooded, I think the guy finally gave up and left by boat.

A sump pump will most likely not be able to keep up with the water, and where are you going to pump it to?

A trash pump means it can handle "stuff" in the water and not clog.

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I never knew there were 2 spellings, lol. I don't read smut, lol.
So, the sump pump wouldn't do much. I don't know where one would pump it. Everything is pretty much under water right now for her.

I will have to do a search on that ' berm' lol, you talked about. Honestly asking you this, how large of an area are you talking about when you would build a dry lake? I will look it up. Maybe, she could hire some people, if that would help some.

A trash pump might help them, alot. They have a tremendous amount of cleanup. Now, Rancher, where would that be at? and, can you explain about it alittle more. Does that need also, somewhere to pump it to?

I thank you dear sir.
 

Leejosepho

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Cookie said:
Well, my sis's place floods everytime with heavy rains. Her barn has got over 8 feet, their basement, over 3 to 4 ...

Is her place located in a gulley or depression or at the foot of a hill or anything like that?

My in-laws once had a similar problem with run-off from a slightly-higher field behind their property. Where the previous farmer had always plowed in a circular pattern to retain the water, the current one plowed toward and away from the back of their house. To resolve that problem when the new farmer refused to change his pattern, my in-laws ended up placing a berm at the back of their property to direct the water into a large ditch alongside.
 

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It is pretty flat. But, they do have a stream very nearby, which sometimes, the beavers damn up and wola, makes the problem even worse. Ok, I looked up DYKE, lol, and I think, they tried that with sandbags. It didn't work. They do sandbag if they can ahead of time, around the house, closely around the house; but, that only helps somewhat. They own several acres, I wonder, what if they mowed their grass like you mentioned Lee? Or this berm, what did they use? sandbags, or dirt? Anything else my sis could do? It is pretty bad.
 

Leejosepho

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Cookie said:
They own several acres ...

How they mow the grass would not affect anything, and I do not know what material(s) my father-in-law had used. But, and unless the house is at the low point of their property, or maybe even if so, I have to believe an experienced landscaping or drainage engineer could come up with a workable plan.
 

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Cass,

Might a drainage engineer help? You saw how high the water, what do you think?

*What do you think about taking out a sliding glass door and bricking that part of the wall, where she thinks the water is coming in at? Any possiblities on that? Or would that be a waste of time, and money? Does water just come in from under the foundation?
 
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Oh, boy do I agree. I wish they would, it is just too deep. I guess nothing much else might help. Thank you all, for your help, I tried.
 

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Just thought I would share with you all, that she got geese and ducks swimming to there front door, and looking in the windows. I told her, to go fishing for dinner. ;)

Life can be worse.
 

Jadnashua

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Levees can work, but look what happend in New Orleans...basically, nearly the whole city is below river level. If the water is that high, it could be coming in anywhere there is a crack in the foundation. With a levee around the house, it can get tricky to drive a car in unless it is really big. Messes up the view, too! Sandbags are an emergency stopgap. You will still get leaks, and you'd need a pump to move the water out of the area, over the top of your dike.

There was a picture in my local paper today of a 16" rainbow trout that got washed up and left high and dry by someones back porch as the nearby stream overflowed. Apparantly it receeded too quick for the thing to follow it back to the streambed.

If they are lucky, the fire department might bring out a pump for them and empty their basement.

From a safety viewpoint, any appliance, especially gas fired, should be replaced if it is submerged. It is just not safe. Also, if those things, if they exist, have pilot lights and are submerged, they should get out of the house immediately. Don't open the door to the area, don't turn on a light, don't call, anything like that could spark and literally blow the house up. You'd be lucky to find anything recognizable. A submerged gas appliance can be a major safety hazard. Call the gas company and have them shut the gas off at the meter.

BTW, dikes are what make a good portion of the Netherlands habitable.
 

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It is pretty bad Jadnashua. I thought, honest to God, that water would leak in from the foundation. So, do you think taking out the glass sliding door and bricking it up would do any good? I will tell you my thought on it, honestly, I really didn't think it would. But, I was just assuming, knowledge from nowhere.

They do get the sandbags from the firedept, and I think, once or twice, they came and pumped some out. But, I know Jad, it took a long, long time to dry out. Last time, the flooring had to go, some of the wall coverings, etc. They shut there heat off, cause the furnace gets flooded. But, I think, they still reuse it after cleaning it. They never, yet, ever got it replaced. There stream became a raging river.

About the fish, I told them, to catch some, lol. Hey, make hay while the sunshines. They just got there power back today, electricity, phone...

Never saw the Netherlands, never saw a dike. I don't think. Thank you for your response Jad.
 
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