Stream in a basement/wet/mold

[Aaron Desimone]

Good evening Biggerpockets!

I am reaching out for some help/advice. I purchased a foreclosed SFH to rehab and use as a rental. There was standing water in the basement; I removed it, and to my surprise found that it was almost like a stream/crick flowing through the basement. I can only summarize after having talked to several contractors/drainage professionals that it is due to the water table being so high, the house sitting in a small bowl, possibility of terrible to no drainage around the house, and the basement being so low.

It seems the previous owners saw that there was water seeping up through the concrete, and decided to channel that water to a sump pump (which are common in the area) by chipping out the basement floor from one side to the other where the sump pump basin was. This has allowed free access for water to come up through the chipped away spots and flow through the basement handmade channel creating a stream/crick.  It does not always run, and does go dry, although with the wet year seems to not be for long.  I calculated that the sump pump I put in was discharging 3-6 gallons of water every minute and a half/ 24 hours a day/everyday.

Things I have done to help mitigate:

-expanded the sump pump basin, and put in a proper basin with 2 sump pumps with their own separate breaker and outlet.

-I did have the water tested that was coming up through the basement floor and flowing to the sump pump.  It tested positive for chlorine. Town was contacted and they came out and said that it did test positive for chlorine but not an amount that would warrant coming from them. I spoke to the neighbor in the back of the house about her swimming pool, she stated she has no leaks and has not had to fill it for awhile.  She is on a well (cause we are on the line of village amenities, I have town water) but says her sump pump runs 3-4 times a day not all day (her house sits much higher than mine). 

I have played with the idea of filling the basement (8ft tall) with concrete or something.

The problem I have ran into is that the basement, although parts of it are dry on the floor, is now rife with mold spots that where not there before.  I can not figure out a way to stop the flow of water forever, or how to prevent mold form continuing to grow since it will always be wet.

ANY suggestions or advice anyone could offer would be appreciated.  I have been doing research online, and talked to some companies that specialize in mold remediation/control.  I spoke with a few contractors, and every town department about how to permanently stop the water but was told that because of where the house sits in conjunction to the neighbors, how low the basement is to how low the town culvert is (which is the lowest spot on my property and my 2 neighbors) that we still have a 6ft+ difference that can not be made up to daylight a pipe to just drain the water naturally from the house.

Please if you have a suggestion or advice i would love to hear it.

[Larry Turowski]

@Aaron Desimone Ugh!  This stinks!  I googled and found https://thebasementguynewyork.com/ in your area.

The permanent solution can be very expensive--think $15K.  It may involve hitting it from every angle (sump pumps, digging a french drain around your basement, sealing the inside and outside of the basement walls, culverts, etc), but mostly shunting water around the basement to wherever it ultimately goes.  Maybe your sump pump goes 24/7 because the water is just coming right back in.  Enough must escape that your basement doesn't totally flood.  You need to find out where it escapes to and direct water there.