House Design

ANSWER: Basement Flooding

When first looking at this picture, is your immediate reaction “OMG, what is this?!!”  Imagine what the buyer was thinking!  And, even though inspectors have learned to expect surprises, I suspect this was over the top even for our employee John Osterberg.

This higher end home was originally built in the 1950′s, then rebuilt with a new wood framed structure on the old foundation in 2006.  The area is known to have a high water table, and most, if not all homes in the area have working sump pumps fed by perimeter drains.

The home had been vacant for several months, and for three days prior to this inspection, the area received nearly 10″ of rain.

This particular issue was determined to be the result of a failed sump pump (no battery backup), massive rainstorms, and rising water table. 

The pump was repaired, the water drained, the storms subsided, and in several days after this picture, the basement was ready to be made liveable.  And, the buyer was still planning on the purchase!

Thanks, John, for submitting this story.

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