Basement flooding/furnace issues

[Argie's Wife]

On Friday, the NH DOT was going around leveling off snowbanks, including the one right by our house at the corner of a street and the main road, Route 140. Leveling the snowbank into a culvert caused an ice dam that resulted in water backing up into my home. There is a floor drain in my basement that goes into the culvert for ground water - the problem was the water was coming UP the drain, into my home.

On Monday morning we woke up to 20" of water in our basement, and our furnace was out and mostly underwater. We called Alton Fire Department - big kudos to them for their excellent response. They arrived within minutes of our call and were very helpful - they really saved our furnace and most of the storage items we had in the basement (not much - most of it was it plastic tubs, but still...) We are very lucky to have such a wonderful, dedicated department in our town!

Anyhow, our furnace is fixed but it sits right on the floor of the basement. We've lived here for almost 10 years and this is the first time we've had this problem. We were lucky we could get the furnace repaired - replacement of it would have cost $4K. (Repairs were still a 4 digit number, though...).

Should we consider raising up the furnace? Or is there some way to protect it from water, if this should ever happen again? I also understand it's costly to raise up and re-plumb a furnace - is that true?

Thanks for your help!

[brk-lnt]

I also understand it's costly to raise up and re-plumb a furnace - is that true?

Thanks for your help!


How far up would you need to raise it, and what kind of furnace do you have?

Provided you have the headroom, raising up a typical forced-air system 12" or so shouldn't be a very major undertaking.

You might also want to invest in a WaterCop style alarm system so if the basement floods again you can be aware of it earlier.

[ITD]

Sorry to hear about your problems, I hope things are getting better. I would consider removing the floor drain pipe and all, contrary to popular belief lightning can and does strike twice.

[Rusty]

I would investigate the possibility of putting in a backflow prevention valve.

[SIKSUKR]

I would look at a sump pump first.Even if your furnace is raised I wouls still want to keep accumulating water out of my basement.Sumps are pretty cheap and not a big undertaking.

[DickR]

If you can't raise the hardware, perhaps you could build a wall around it. That would of course depend on where it is in relation to foundation walls and other things. You'd have to provide for access to the furnace for servicing, meaning either a removable but watertight section or extra room inside the wall. A little brainstorming and maybe... or maybe not?

[Argie's Wife]

Dick - that's sorta what I was thinking of but didn't know if it existed...

An alarm, a pump, and a dike sound like the ticket... gotta be less trouble than what we've been dealing with here...

[KBoater]

I had a house with the same problem. The Drain pipe, which was installed to drain the cellar, would freeze up outside and
any water collected beyond the freeze point would flow back into the cellar.
A sump pump draining out a window and a water bug alarm system to detect a water level were the answers.