Who get's the prize this time?

Brad White_9

when things go awry, according to my Susan-

Influence of alcohol and/or the Universe is run by cats.

Choose wisely.

:)

Constantin

Two trades down, let's add another!

There are so many different ways to flood a basement, it seems like the trades have conspired to find new and exciting ways to do it.

The plumbers came in first place when the slip coupling an apprentice used failed and started to leak furiously. Well, when one pipe is only covered to the tune of 0.1", what does one expect? Luckily, we were there, caught it early and the plumbers took care of it the same day. Considering the potential damage, we got off easy.

The electricians took the second prize when we discovered the absence of ductseal on the electrical pole and in the underground box for the conduit. Once it rained like crazy here, the sauce ran down the pole, into the box, and from there into the basement. In this case, our GC came to the rescue and we only had to deal with about 3 gallons on the floor, 6 more in the conduit...

Evidently eager not to be left behind, the AC/heat installation crew started by losing lots of Tyfocor from the solar system by not following OEM installation instructions. However, that doesn't quite count because the Tyfocor ended up in the cistern, not the basement. That's a very expensive sweetener!

Eager to make up for lost time, here we have the latest submission from the HVAC crowd. What you are looking at is the end of a horizontal section of ~1" schedule 40 PVC pipe that ends in the joist bay of the utility room. Once I turned on the attic AC system, the removed water made it's way down this drain pipe and into the basement. Brilliant!

For now, the drain has been rigged to drain into a garden hose & trash can. Tomorrow I'll finish the drain job after a trip to Home Despot for the necessary tubing and PVC fittings. I'll take care of the non-drained T&P valve at the same time.

Clearly, this latest leak does not have the same potential to re-arrange a basement like the one that Alex a.k.a. Stonehouse has recently experienced. However, ensuring that all drain pipes in AC systems you guys install actually drain into a functional drain might be a good thing to add to a commissioning checklist.

Any thoughts on whether I should remove the FG pipe insulation below that got soaked in the process?

The Wire Nut

Mother Nature vs. mothers

and I don't mean the maternal kind...

At least, as bad as my basement was/is, Mother Nature was the culprit (and the State's failure to maintain our creek bed) and there is no real defense or recourse.

Your issue, unfortunately, is the result of bad work, laziness and/or incompetence. From "experts", no less. All that has the potential to do far more damage, especially as they can be hidden conditions that do their worst over time and hidden from view.

In any case, a quart of water, much less gallons is far too much... At least, though, you don't have to deal with mud that resists removal!

Hope you've found all the glitches...

Alex

Mike T., Swampeast MO

I've read from numerous sources that fiberglass insulation that has been soaked with water is ruined. My personal experience with wetted fiberglass is that if horizontal, it's trash. If vertical and the water flowed against something solid and only lightly wet the fiberglass (not soaked through) it's usually OK. (Well at least it still looks like normal fiberglass...the stuff that gets soaked compacts and is anything but normal looking.)

Constantin

Argh

After a trip to our favorite orange big box, our utility drain now sports a Wye connection for all the overflows, any errant Tyfocor goes back into a Tyfocor container, and the AC drain drains into the Wye via 1" PVC pipe. What I did not anticipate is that the drain is a mere 0.75" by the time it comes into the basement. Naturally, I mostly bought 1" pipe fittings.

Never mind the joys of trying to get a fitting onto a piece of PVC that has been coated with Icyenene and thus, despite a lot of sandpapering, is still a very tight fit... and this all takes place in a inaccessible corner of the universe, i.e. in the space above/behind my indirect water heater. As a result, I'm going to keep the fiberglass insulation. It's dense stuff, cannot get any denser by getting wet, and I'll simply have to live with the stains.

As annoying as this whole episode was (yet another evening wasted), it taught me new respect for those that install pretty PVC piping on a daily basis. Plus, I imagine that your cleanup is a lot more involved than mine will ever be. Best of luck to you!