Basements, Attics and Crawl Spaces - Humid Basement, Lots of Rain, Dry Sump Well = Clogged Drain Tiles?

Short story: dumped 40+gals of water into furnace room drain, today it's raining cats and dogs and not a drop of water has hit my sump well.

Long story:

Since the day we moved in our basements been humid, always with a musty odor.

When I arrived I found a full sump well and a dead pump. I replaced the pump figuring end of problem.

Not so. I'm currently running an old server room spot chiller in dehumidifier mode as a temp solution.

Last week I drained a 50 gallon water heater into the floor drain in the furnace room. I just assumed this is running to the sump well.

Today it's been pouring down rain. We're at 85% relativity in the basement (I just kicked on the chiller) and I thought I'd better make sure the pump was working.

I popped the lid on the sump well to find it bone dry. What's more there's dust in the bottom and cobwebs like the thing hasn't seen a drop of water all summer long.

I thought it may be that the thing is completely clogged. I'm almost tempted to run the garden hose in and try to "blast" through the tile. But I'd hate to find a bigger problem the hardway.

The basement is finished so it limits my research options.

Ideas?

Just because you have high RH does not mean there is any thing wrong with the drain tile! You are in a green grass state and should be in a no load time so a dehumidifier should be needed to keep RH under 55%. Don't know what you mean by a spot chiller. But a dehumidifier would be more efficient at removing RH at low temps.

Hi bob, it actually sounds like good news to me, raining cats and dogs, added 40 gal directly to the perimeter drain system and none shows up in the sump. What that means to me is the ground is taking everything. That's assuming the floor drain is running to the perimeter foundation drain system. The perimeter sys is made of perforated pipe to allow water in or out. It would normally have an outlet area, sometimes to daylight, sometimes to a drywell, and sometimes just off to some good soil. But, when everything is working well, nothing may show up in your sump.

Now, the only indication you have that something is wrong, is the humidity and musty smell. If that turns out to be water leaking through the foundation, then resume your concerns about the drainage, but humidity and musty smell can simply be the normal moisture that migrates through a basement wall.

Next step would be moisture testing or an infrared camera or pull off some of that finished basement wall to see how it was put together. Keep the dehumidifier going and try to get it below 50% to hold off the mold. Unfortunately the musty smell says it may already be there.

Let us know,
Bud

Thanks for the both replies.

I realize one didn't naturally = the other but wondered on the possibility/probability.

The "green grass state" part that confuses me is this: We lived in a house about 3 miles away for 10 years away and that basement never had a humidity problem with no dehumidifier. I'm just amazed at the difference from one house to another. I suppose there's lots of factors that go into this.

I know I do need to get a dehumidifier, but with no $$$ right now I'm using what I have to get by.

Thanks for the infrared idea, I'll look into that. I can tell you that in the unfinished areas there is a vapor barrier on the inside of the outer wall studs. This goes up to but stops at the floor joist. The concrete foundation wall (4' tall) has nothing on it (not that I'd expect it to).

My one fear (and why I may have to peel everything back) is that they either:
1. didn't add vapor barrier all the way down the wall.
2. Added vapor barrier floor to ceiling, right over what is already there.

In either case that's where I'm forced to make decisions I'd rather not make, LoL. :alarm:

Thanks so much for the replies.

I now have a dry sump. Up to 2 weeks ago I would hear the sump pump kick in, but recently despite increased rain, I had not heard the pump for a while. I went to take a look expecting a broken pump, but instead found the sump to be dry.

My house is not 12 months old yet so I would not expect drain tile issues, but having said that, my builder has turned out not to the best !!

As I write this it has been raining for several days, and today very hard ... so now I am worried.

Hi Idjit, puzzling, but only a problem if water is showing up somewhere else IMO. Is your basement area finished where you might not see a problem?

Here is a test, turn your pump off and run a hose to the sump and fill it, or try to. If it fills up and the water goes nowhere, then there may be a problem.

If your house is only one year old, then the soil/grass is just getting set and it is possible it is doing it's job by diverting the rain before it soaks into the soil. A good landscape job will prevent water from ever getting down to your drainage system. I have dug into ground after months of rain and found it dry just a few feet down.

Bottom line, you may simply have good surface drainage, but the proof will be time. If your basement remains dry and the sump never runs, what can I say.

If your basement is finished it will be harder to know what is going on. There are inspection snakes, most plumbers have very long ones, and they can probe what they can get to is you need results sooner.

Hope that helps,
Bud

Thanks for the idea Bud ...

We have planted grass, I have extended the deck at the back of the house, and ran some drain tiles to take water away from the house, so maybe the drainage is now good.

The basement is fully finished so it will be difficult to see anything, but I will try to fill the sump from a hose and then see what happens although I do know that once full the sump will empty by gravity once it reaches the top pipe.

This was by design, and has saved us more than once when the pump failed in the past.

My main concern is that the water is not draining to the sump but washing away my foundation where I cannot see it.

Thanks again.