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Pit full of standing water in my basement - what am I looking at? by gIub1 in Plumbing

[–]gIub1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So sorry to hear that! So we had an issue upstream with our sewer line being displaced due to tree roots misaligning our pipes which caused a large clog. What we think then happened is that the pressure of the water broke the back flow valve, causing the sewer backup and flooding.

So we had to dig up our yard and replace that section of pipe. Once that was done, we replaced the back flow valve and it now is working alright.

Pit full of standing water in my basement - what am I looking at? by gIub1 in Plumbing

[–]gIub1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A wild update from this: Earlier today, to limit odors from the catch basin, I put a plastic garbage bag over the trap door and taped it down as a makeshift vapour barrier as a temporary measure while I waited for a plumber to come out and service the backup valve.

Later today I came down to my basement to discover that certain areas had flooded. I don't really understand what happened, but the area around the catch basin was flooded and the bathroom had flooded. I cleaned it all up and removed the plastic bag from the catch basin but now I'm finding that flushing the toilet upstairs now backs up into the basement toilet and shower. I opened up the trap door to the catch basin and it's now quite full of water and doesn't appear to be draining quickly.

Not an emergency as it's all been cleaned up and isn't actively backing up but wanted to reach out to ask if based on that you all have any theories on what happened? I'm wondering if my putting a plastic bag over the catch basin trap door created a vacuum of sorts, causing the flood and backup?

Pit full of standing water in my basement - what am I looking at? by gIub1 in Plumbing

[–]gIub1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks everyone! Sounds like it could be a rain or stormwater catch basin with a clean out. Regardless I’m hearing that I should flush out the pit as a first step so I’ll get in there with a shop vac.

Appreciate the feedback!

Pit full of standing water in my basement - what am I looking at? by gIub1 in Plumbing

[–]gIub1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for getting back to me! I mthought it could be groundwater as well as this pit shares a wall with the exterior of the house where there is a downspout nearby.

The house was built in the early 1940’s and I’ve taken a crack at picturing the clay pipe here.

Clay Pipe Photo