quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
We will definitely look into them. But we need to find someone to do the install, or else help at least, like I said, some of the gutters are too high.

Ugh, I wish these people would call me back. It's obviously a sellers' market for these businesses

We're in the same boat with our two story house. That's why I mentioned costs for materials and (overqualified) labor to install.

I know it's a pain, but now that the tiles are out it's not a huge emergency. 6' of water, that is an emergency! And our friends survived that. Twice.

Some tips for cleaning the vulnerable area from the ground, though it may be the case you can't reach even with an extension pole.

https://www.pjfitz.com/diy/gut...lean-gutters-ground/

The blower extensions are awkward to maneuver, and the one that allow you to use your garden house can be messy, with water raining down on you. But you might still be able to get the gutters that are overflowing clean enough to get through the next round of rain.

Maybe you can get a drone with a camera to take a look up there...I haven't tried that....

If you are on facebook, there are often neighborhood or "moms" groups where valuable info on who to call for different kinds of jobs can be found... I'd trust that more than Craigslist!

Nextdoor.com, too.

Mik, I'm not comfortable hiring through CL... And I guess I'm not desperate enough yet!

I tried NextDoor, and got a couple different recommendations. I've contacted all of those places. One I spoke to and he said he would call me back to schedule an estimate. Another I spoke to a secretary and she said someone else would call me back to schedule an estimate. Another I left a message. None of these folks have called back yet.

In the meantime, Mr. SK has been doing all kinds of things, both to the gutters and around the yard, in hopes of changing the equation. So I suspect we are in better shape than we were on Saturday (when the flood happened) but we do want some professional input...

So I'll keep calling around I guess.

First question: Are ALL of the downspouts running when it rains?

If not, there are some really easy things to do to clear them quickly.

Get one of those power nozzles for your hose. Not the one for a pressure washer, just the one that looks like a little metal funnel with a small opening. Also get a hose shutoff valve you can open and close quickly. You might even get an extra short hose like 12 or 20 feet. Put the power nozzle on the hose and put the valve at the next joint back. Shove as much of the hose as you can into the downspout from the bottom. Repeatedly cycle the water on and off and see if you can snake more hose up the pipe. If all is good, you should see a stream of water come out the top.

Figure out what your longest downspout is. It sounds like it's the equivalent of two stories, so call that about 20 feet. Go to the plumbing department and buy a spring snake at least that long. This is a semi-rigid thing so you can push it, but it's flexible in all directions and has an open coil at one end. It's designed for removing obstructions (like a diaper) from a toilet drain. It also comes with a joggle tube with a thumbscrew. The joggle tube allows you to crank on the snake and turn it into the obstruction, then pull the obstruction back out. Again, feed this gizmo up from the bottom of the downspout, turning as you go. It will eventually grab the clog which you can pull out, or it will push the clog up and out of the top of the downspout.

Still, one or two clogged downspouts shouldn't cause flooding like you described.

Good counsel...

We had some seepage issues - some things we've done.

The gutter guards people have discussed

Gutter extensions to move the water further away from the house.

Keep drain by exterior drain entrance clean as when plugged water collects and comes in under the basement door.

Bought a utility pump that one can connect to a garden hose. You place the pump in the water and it will pump the water out of the basement. They're available at Home Depot, Lowes and other such places.

After that, we went crazy - and had the exterior of the basement waterproofed, had special valve installed to prohibit sewer back-up, drain tiles along the perimeter installed, a pit dug in the front yard to store excess backup from the valve, a sump pump pit installed along with two pumps and back-up. I don't think you need to do any of that based on your description - but the utility pump investment would have saved you some work with the wet vac.

Yes. A utility pump is a great thing to have. I used to use one to drain my back yard before I got the drainage fixed.

Thanks for all the extra suggestions everyone! I had not heard of a utility pump, so that's something to pursue! And also the snake that PJ suggested.

We had a roofer out to the house today for estimates, he crawled around the roof, measured the gutters, and also talked to us about drainage things. The fee for gutter cleaning is affordable, another option is gutter replacement (also affordable, although more of course). But he said they gutters don't looked clogged right now. Well of course they don't because Mr. SK has been doing all kinds of creative things to clean them despite not being able to go up onto the roof. But if was good to have confirmation. The roofer also explained the condition of the gutters and pointed out that they could be replaced but we could also wait another year or two.

He said he thinks our water problem is either caused by ground level problems (drain issues) or it was the gutters but now Mr. SK has remedied the problem.

So our next move is to pursue drainage solutions. The person who was recommended to me (and by a bunch of people on NextDoor) has not gotten back to me yet, probably because everyone who reads Next Door is calling him! But the roofer gave me contact info for other contractors, including someone who does drains, so I will google around and see if that person seems like a good idea and go from there.

In the meantime, here's hoping we don't have any serious rain storms in the forecast...