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People Who Live Where There Are Basements

olds

olds

Elite Member
"Walk-out" basement. How do you keep water from coming down these stairs?

I see no provisions here so I have to assume there is water damage.

Build a cover and tweaking drainage might be a solution.

Sump pump?
 
A "walkout" doesn't have stairs. You ' walk out' to grade level, perhaps with retaining walls to either side. A stairwell requires a drain in the bottom, or a cover of some kind.
 
lxskllr said:
A "walkout" doesn't have stairs. You ' walk out' to grade level, perhaps with retaining walls to either side. A stairwell requires a drain in the bottom, or a cover of some kind.
Click to expand...
That's why I put it in quotes. I disagree with realtor. Thanks
 
If it is a stairwell with no drain or cover(WTF?!), you'd want a drain that goes into a sump pit with a sump pump. It would take a pretty special situation for me to accept a house that didn't have a sump pump, even if it was seldom(never?) used. Only takes one 'storm of the century'(about every ten years anymore(That's for you Zin :^P )) to make a bad day. A sump pump is cheap insurance.
 
I've got drainage just outside the basement door, at the very bottom of those stairs, which drains just under the slab, that feeds into the common water drainage area for the whole house. The 2nd sump pump is also located just inside the basement door, next to that drainage point. (oh, also, that sump pump actually isn't working. I have a new one just...uh, haven't replace it yet, in a couple of years. I'm a terrible person. But the other sump pump on opposite side of house handles everything well enough--we've also had 2 top-10 regional annual rainfall records within the last 3 years, so it's not like my broke system isn't being challenged)
 
lxskllr said:
A "walkout" doesn't have stairs. You ' walk out' to grade level, perhaps with retaining walls to either side. A stairwell requires a drain in the bottom, or a cover of some kind.
Click to expand...

right, I've also got an awning over those stairs, and an awning over the sun room that sits above those stairs into the basement.
 
BoomerD said:
My house sits at about 3-4 feet above sea level...a basement here would just be an indoor swimming pool.
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but imagine how healthy and fungus-free your feet would be! (Assuming you are close enough to the ocean that we are talking salted water)
 
zinfamous said:
but imagine how healthy and fungus-free your feet would be! (Assuming you are close enough to the ocean that we are talking salted water)
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ocean-shores-wa-5350570.jpg

Find the airport upper right...my house is just down the road from that. My backyard is a thin band of woods...then the bay.

(I think that pic is VERY old.)
 
BoomerD said:
ocean-shores-wa-5350570.jpg

Find the airport upper right...my house is just down the road from that. My backyard is a thin band of woods...then the bay.

(I think that pic is VERY old.)
Click to expand...

very brackish water, right?

So, very salty, still, but it looks like you live in more marshy water. Cool terrain. The best kind of critters.

DUDE!

You live in history!

Or, history-adjacent, which is also nice?


DUDE! ...also.

you are living on the shelf of a continent. Have you yet taken the time to appreciate the circumstance of where you are living right now, through satellite imagery? lol. ....now I need to go look at my house under satellite/coastal/continental map.
 
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Always kind of wondered this myself, especially the style like in Home Alone. they do put drains, but that seems like a high risk since if that gets blocked or stops being able to keep up with a large rain fall it could eventually overwhelm to the weeping tile system or start to fill up and leak through the door.

Though some walkout basements have no stairs since the house is built on a hill so the walk out part is basically level with the lower part of the hill. This is probably the most practical setup and less likely to have any kind of water issues.
 
in my building there is drainage below the level of the basement.

A real walkout basement doesn't have this issue, the water can drain away down the slope...
 
zinfamous said:
very brackish water, right?

So, very salty, still, but it looks like you live in more marshy water. Cool terrain. The best kind of critters.

DUDE!

You live in history!

Or, history-adjacent, which is also nice?


DUDE! ...also.

you are living on the shelf of a continent. Have you yet taken the time to appreciate the circumstance of where you are living right now, through satellite imagery? lol. ....now I need to go look at my house under satellite/coastal/continental map.
Click to expand...

Brackish...not really as far as the bay...but like any river estuary that's open to the ocean...much more salty than just brackish. The little "peninsula" is lined with freshwater canals and lakes...that look more like sewers than anything I'd want to swim or fish in...

The house where Kobain grew up goes up for sale now and then...

www.realtor.com

Pressing Reset on the Sale of Kurt Cobain's Childhood Home in Washington

Now with a new listing agent and set of photos—as well as a lower price—Kurt Cobain's childhood home in Aberdeen might finally sell.
www.realtor.com www.realtor.com
 
olds said:
"Walk-out" basement. How do you keep water from coming down these stairs?

I see no provisions here so I have to assume there is water damage.

Build a cover and tweaking drainage might be a solution.

Sump pump?
Click to expand...


Shouldn't you be the one GIVING advice on basement type things, you being the local authority?

😉


Seriously though I've lived in several houses with "walk-out" style basement stairs and all were raised several inches above the surrounding ground and sealed.

My advice is that if you already own the house in question go for a professionally installed sump-pump with power backup if any substantial water is getting in on a regular basis.

If however this is a house you don't own cross it off your list ... water problems never go away and tend to get worse over time.
 
From the street my house appears to be a single story house.
From the street on the other side (my property fronts two different streets) it appears to be a 3 story house. My basement walks out onto a deck that is almost 16' off the ground.
Elevation difference between street on east side of property to that on the west side is about 55'. 0.6 acre lot.
 
Walkout basements are also called daylight basements because there is usually enough at-grade wall for some windows in addition to the door.
 
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