A Real Tearjerker!

Two weekend's ago it rained in biblical proportions -- 11 inches over 3 days -- and we found our Achilles heel in the house. When they backfilled around the window well outside the egress window in the basement bedroom, they didn't ensure that the ground was firmly packed UNDER and around it. The large amount of water caused the dirt to collapse under the base and shift the whole base upward, dislodging the drain which clogged with dirt. The window well then filled to the top with water and began to seep into the house! I discovered it while giving a house tour right before the ND/Michigan game, but thought the drain had just clogged. I didn't realize what a big deal it actually was. As you can see from the pix, they had to excavate all around the window well and they are going to put in some gravel and ensure that they do a better job of backfilling this go around. They'll also replace the drywall and insulation under the window as it is a wet muddy mess! The concrete floor is easy to clean, however!

There ARE actually several pieces of good news, however...1) better we discovered it before there's carpet and furniture etc to deal with 2) it's a one time fix and we shouldn't have to 'revisit' it ever again and 3) even without a graded yard or gutters, there was no other water in the basement, which means we are in really good shape longterm and 4) we are unlikely to have 11" of rain on a regular basis...but if we do, we'll be ready.