need advice

[rudeguy]

Originally posted by: MotionMan
I think you are getting a lot of good advice here. If it is causing problems on more than one property, it seems like you should examine the drainage design of the street and address that. In addition, the drainage design of your property should be able to deal with this, as well.

Originally posted by: huberm
I just bought a new house a few months ago.

Have you spoken to your real estate agent about getting information from the prior owner regarding this issue? If this existed before and was not disclosed during escrow when you bought the house, you may need to talk to a lawyer (though I admittedly know nothing about Indiana real estate law) Do not wait to do this since the statute of limitations may be only a year.

MotionMan

Listen to the crook...er...lawyer on this one

I also think pics would help us out.

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: K1052
1) leave them a letter co-written by all of you describing the problem asking them to contact you/neighbors when convenient to resolve this issue among yourselves

This.

Too late now but your home inspector should have been able to detect water issues with your foundation.

As mentioned already, his single sump pump could not create this much water build-up in your lawn and foundation. Sounds like your house is located in a crappy wet area. You may want to look into installing a sump pump yourself.

or a diverting wall of some sort. if the water is flowing downhill to hit your and other houses, its a design flaw in the neighborhood. one pump is not going to create the amount of water necessary to fuck up your house, but the heavy rain plus that pump will. maybe you can get him to redirect his hose, but youll still have to deal with natures course of water shedding.

 

[waggy]

i have to agree. i don't think its him doing the damage.

 

[MotionMan]

Originally posted by: waggy
i have to agree. i don't think its him doing the damage.

Even if it is, the street and individual drainage systems should be able to handle the water, IMO.

MotionMan

 

[PepePeru]

Originally posted by: MotionMan

Originally posted by: waggy
i have to agree. i don't think its him doing the damage.

Even if it is, the street and individual drainage systems should be able to handle the water, IMO.

MotionMan

then there wouldn't be areas of sheet flooding anywhere.
storm drains get clogged with trash, debris.
some are poorly engineered.
with increased urbanization and impervious surfaces, you get more run off, more water.
some areas are just victims of topography & the underlying soils.

so i agree, yes in a perfect world, it should.

I believe that some cities have ordinances against discharging water across someone else's property.

I seem to remember a City I worked for had something to that effect.

 

[MotionMan]

Originally posted by: G Wizard

Originally posted by: MotionMan

Originally posted by: waggy
i have to agree. i don't think its him doing the damage.

Even if it is, the street and individual drainage systems should be able to handle the water, IMO.

MotionMan

then there wouldn't be areas of sheet flooding anywhere.
storm drains get clogged with trash, debris.
some are poorly engineered.
with increased urbanization and impervious surfaces, you get more run off, more water.
some areas are just victims of topography & the underlying soils.

so i agree, yes in a perfect world, it should.

I believe that some cities have ordinances against discharging water across someone else's property.

I seem to remember a City I worked for had something to that effect.

Originally posted by: huberm
I found that a neighbor down the road is dumping water from his sump pump in his basement out into the street and it is running into my yard and several other neighbor's yards.

However, the neighbor is pumping into the street, not directly onto the neighbors property. If your house is flooding, I am not sure where else you are suppose discharge the water to?

MotionMan

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: G Wizard

Originally posted by: MotionMan

Originally posted by: waggy
i have to agree. i don't think its him doing the damage.

Even if it is, the street and individual drainage systems should be able to handle the water, IMO.

MotionMan

then there wouldn't be areas of sheet flooding anywhere.
storm drains get clogged with trash, debris.
some are poorly engineered.
with increased urbanization and impervious surfaces, you get more run off, more water.
some areas are just victims of topography & the underlying soils.

so i agree, yes in a perfect world, it should.

I believe that some cities have ordinances against discharging water across someone else's property.

I seem to remember a City I worked for had something to that effect.

and its a good thing he is not pumping water into someone else's property.

 

[PepePeru]

then i guess the moral to this story, is do your research when buying a house.

pay attention to topography.
pay attention to the elevation of your foundation to the street.
pay attention to the underlying soils.

without a more detailed look at the pumper's house and the topography of the area, its hard to say, who's ultimately to blame.
it does sound like it could be the developer's fault.

 

[Kelemvor]

By me it's illegal to have your sump dump empty out into the drain. If it's not, then I guess there's not much you can do other than just ask him to change where it goes.

How exactly does it get from the street into your yard?

 

[StageLeft]

How is water from the street going into your house? STREET FAIL

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
How is water from the street going into your house? STREET FAIL

I'm guessing his street has no curbs and it's just flowing from the road into their yards.

 

[spidey07]

I'm going to have to agree that something is wrong with your house and how the land was leveled. Water should run away from your house, not towards it. Also agree that something needs to be done quick otherwise you will be looking at costly foundation repairs.

 

[rudeguy]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: Skoorb
How is water from the street going into your house? STREET FAIL

I'm guessing his street has no curbs and it's just flowing from the road into their yards.

Even then, there would be ditches or some kind of drainage system. Every county I know of has something similar to a drain commissioner who is in charge of this kind of thing.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: NSFW

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: Skoorb
How is water from the street going into your house? STREET FAIL

I'm guessing his street has no curbs and it's just flowing from the road into their yards.

Even then, there would be ditches or some kind of drainage system. Every county I know of has something similar to a drain commissioner who is in charge of this kind of thing.

Possibly, but the sewer drain may be located further down the street after their houses.

 

[rudeguy]

So maybe a subdivision (house farm) that was poorly designed? That would make sense...

 

[meltdown75]

use your words to communicate with the neighbour

 

[MotionMan]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: NSFW

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: Skoorb
How is water from the street going into your house? STREET FAIL

I'm guessing his street has no curbs and it's just flowing from the road into their yards.

Even then, there would be ditches or some kind of drainage system. Every county I know of has something similar to a drain commissioner who is in charge of this kind of thing.

Possibly, but the sewer drain may be located further down the street after their houses.

Still, "A River Runs Through It" should not refer to your house. Poor design somewhere.

MotionMan

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Born2bwire
If a single sump pump's worth of water being dispersed across a street is enough to seep into your foundation I have a feeling that having him move his drain to a different area is not going to solve your problems.

I agree with this. I just don't see how one guys sump pump is the root cause of all that damage. I mean, all that water would be there regardless of his pump.

I think the street is just poorly designed...I know my road is horrible, a fucking stream carves a ditch in the center of the asphalt during the spring because the geniuses that built it decided that it didn't need a ditch even though its at the bottom of a mountain. If you don't build a ditch, nature will build one for you.

 

[Eli]

While the person dumping water into the street is a problem, the rain storms dump plenty of water into the street also. What are you going to do about that?

Water from the street should not be running into your foundation. Blame whoever designed the neighborhood.