The basement of my 19 year old home has flooded twice. Both times we had water gushing out of the condensation drain for the air conditioner. I do not know how to fix this. Obviously there is a lot of water under the house and it is finding the spot of least resistance. I have been told to plug the hole with non shrinking grout, put in a sump pump. I called a structural expert and he says it is not weeping tiles because this has only happened twice. Both times the city was trying to "hold back" water because they were worried about flooding. Could this have something to do with where our house is located on the "drain line"? Do you have any suggestions. I need to fix this as I would like to use the basement and our insurance company has refused to cover the damage.
Answer:
Before going to such a perminent blocking, I think I'd want to try a temporary plug with a brass nut and bolt that is long enough to go right through the concrete slab. The idea here is to use a butterfly-type nut with a rubber (neoptrene) washer that goes into the hole and then can be tightened up to bring the rubbere washer up against the bottom of the concrete. That will stop water from coming in and if it works, it can either be left in place or changed for your perminent plug. Marine services use this kind of plug all the time so your local marina should be able to supply you with one. This will also tell you a lot about how well your drainage tile along the footings is working. The A/C hose can be lead off somewhere else - the laundry tub for example. You may also have to introduce a small pump here and such is easily available.
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