All Forum Posts by: Ben Nantell

Hey Y'all,

Wondering if anyone in here has had experience with back flow flood prevention systems? I had one installed 3 months ago at my property in Chicago. Recently due to the heavy rain my basement flooded again. I'm waiting a diagnostic review but based on my experience of the flooding issue, the flood prevention system was either installed properly and did not work, was damaged during the back up or couldn't hold the pressure. 

The backup occurred the same as before. The main city line backed up into my line, somehow got passed the flood prevention system and eventually coming back up through the shower basin and kitchen floor drain. 

Any thoughts / ideas on how to handle this with the plumber? He responded saying that they cannot guarantee never having a backup issue again 100% but this isn't a 10 year old system. It was installed and less than 3 months ago. 

Thanks again! Cheers - Ben

Thank you everyone. A quick update. The damage is way worse than I originally thought, apparently due to the back up there was water coming up not only through the downstairs, shower and toilet but also bursting through the foundation and up through multiple tiles. It's a big mess. I reached out to the emergency plumber that rodded that line and he told me that when clearing the line they went from my cleanout (which is 15' from the city connection) about 60' towards the city so he estimated they cleared a blockage at least 30' on the city side. Is this something I can get the alderman involved in? I am going to file an insurance claim as well in hopes I have some assistance. I'm seeing this as a $50,000 + bill with necessary damage repairs and fixing the actual plumbing problem. 

@Jonathan Klemm Is this something your plumber could help me through ? I honestly just don't know where to turn at this point, any help is greatly appreciated. 

Hey BP Team,

I have posted to this forum before about some main line sewer issues i've had since purchasing a triplex on the west side of Chicago. In 2020 I had 4' of main sewer line replaced, had ongoing issues after that. Was told there were issues on the city side of the sewer line, was then told by the city that the work had been done, I never saw anybody come or saw any torn up road for service, but I took the cities word for it. Since then I've had small backups in the basement unit, have had to rod out and jet the line probably 5-6 times in the last two years. 

Today I had the worst incident ever. From what my plumber told me the city sewer had backed up and forced my ejector pump to burn out as it dead headed against the back up. This failure resulted in 4 inches of water in the basement. I'm being told my home insurance policy will not cover any of the restoration and that in order to fix the solution for good I need to install a flood protection back flow system. This would require a new catch basin and new ejector pump in the front of the property and cost over $10,000. I'm struggling to comprehend the costs of the emergency plumber, restoration and then the new flood protection system. Well over $20,000 potentially and I've already spent about that trying to remedy the situation over the past 3 years. I'm told this has to do simply with the city sewers backing up into my mainline. 

Can someone please help me make sense of this, does this like a reasonable fix? Are the costs I've incurred standard rates or am I being given the price of someone who doesn't seem to know what they're doing? Is there any way I can get this work covered under my insurance policy? Does the city have any actual responsibility in this matter? My research tells me the city won't do anything but it seems that this issue keeps happening because of their backups? 

Any help in the matter would be greatly appreciated. I am meeting with a plumber on site on Thursday and would love to collect as much information as I can before that. 

Thanks again! Cheers - Ben

Hello All,

Reaching out to see if anyone can recommend a person or company, in the Belmont Craigin area of Chicago, that can handle general maintenance for one of my properties. Ideally the candidate would be within 10-15 minutes drive time of the unit. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. 

Thank you 

@Ben Nantell

I should note. It says the water consumption is at 84,000 gallons. That’s roughly 900 gallons per unit per day. They are 2 bed 1 bath units. With no laundry or dishwasher. 1 shower, 1 toilet, 2 sinks in each unit.

To all my fellow Chicago Investors. Wondering what some of the water bills at your properties are or have been recently ?

I bought a legal 2 with a basement unit back in November. My first few water bills were just a few hundred dollars. My June statement was $740 which I thought seemed oddly high. But my most recent one was $950. Which seems outrageously high but maybe I’m wrong.

Curious to know if that seems high to others or in line with your units.

Much appreciated - Ben

Hey BP world - just thought I’d post this as I have been laying awake stressing about the issue all morning. So in December after having my property for two months I had sewage backup in the downstairs tenants shower. After some analysis I hired a company to replace a 3 foot section of pipe and install a front end clean out. Which was incredibly expensive but worth it if it fixed the issue.

Just yesterday my same tenant sent me another picture of the same issue. Just thought I’d see if anyone had any tips on what to say to the company that did the work. I’m hoping and imagine they’d come out and diagnose the situation for free since it’s been less than 6 months. Just wondering if anyone’s dealt with a similar situation?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

@John Warren That would be so greatly appreciated. I did send Mark a connection request. Thank you.

Also @Nathan Gesner I appreciate the response. That will be very helpful in finding a partner. 

@Jonathan Klemm thank you and thank you @Soh Tanaka what do you recommend best way to reach out to Mark? I’m newer to the bigger pockets set up so not sure if on here or directly via a phone call or LinkedIn may be best? I’m kind of short on time and starting to worry a bit as we move back to Wisconsin this weekend. 

Let me look into hemlane and I would love an intro if it works for me. 

Thank you

Good day fellow BPers - can anyone recommend a well known property manager in Chicago? I have a triplex that I currently live in and will be moving, looking for someone that services the Belmont Craigan / Hermose area. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Best!