basement floodings

Hi,

I live in a building on St. Johns Pl. close to Washington and we've had terrible flooding in our basement this year - worse than usual (though I know the weather has been worse than usual).

We think it is the actual drainage pipes/drains that are backing up, rather than the rain running through the window. i.e. wondering if it might be because of the antiquated NYC/Brooklyn sewer system being overrun with new buildings and customers and such?!

Anyone else having this problem in their building or can shed any light?! If it's b/c of the city system, then we'll stop trying to fight it, but if there were some other hope, then we would trudge on!!!

We are getting two big dehumidfiers for the basement and hopefully that will help with the musty after-effect of the floodings. Life is lovely, ain't it!

Thanks!

The dryer you keep the ground around your foundation, the less basement flooding you will have.

So, make sure water from the roof does not drain close to the building. Make sure the ground is angled away from the building. Make sure water from neighboring properties isn't flowing on to your property.

If the doesn't work, talk with a plumber. Or get more suggestions from Brownstoner.com 's forum section.