Power out at the Paits'

TheCarolinaChannel.com - WeatherMap

Oh, great. The power is out at my house. This wouldn't normally be a problem except that my house has some issues with flooding in my basement. No power = no sump pump.

My basement used to be a garage. Whoever designed it was out of his mind. The "driveway" starts on a hill and then wraps around the house to the garage door. I'm sure with the first major rain the problem presented itself. The water would simply funnel down the driveway into the basement door! These folks designed the house to flood!

Well, the family that lived in the house before us tried to fix the problem. They built a retaining wall to hold back the water. With a good rain like we have today, the water builds up behind the wall to make it look like an in-ground pool.

Some rain does fall between the overhang and retaining wall. It flows into a drain that then flows INTO the basement sump pump hole. The pump then sucks the water out into the drain that goes out to the city sewage system.

Again, not really a problem except that I finished out half my basement for a home office. If the sump pump does not kick in, water can rise to the floor of the office. Even if it doesn't, water makes the basement damp and that isn't good for my allergies!