Is There Such a Thing as a Watertight Residential Door?

[Seahawk]

Our house has a basement, unfortunately. To keep it dry we have two sump pumps. This has been a very wet winter and spring.

While I have stand-by generators they require someone be here to get them running and plugged into the separate fuse box. It is a great arrangement as long as someone is here.

I don't want to do the auto on generators due to cost and the need for propane or natural gas. I don't have either.

I am looking at battery back-up that will run the pumps but it occurred to me that the basement door well is really the only entrance point for water: Is there a watertight door that is available.

My interweb searches have not been too fruitful, mainly along these lines:

https://sparewater.com/how-to-waterproof-door/

Just curious.

TIA.

[Rusty Heap]

why not use a boat bilge pump with float switch on a battery with trickle charger?

[look 171]

I think water will always get in somehow. Is there constant electric supply to an outlet near by that can activate the pumps? If so, install a french drain in front and divert that water into a well near by, install a sump pump hooked up to a float switch and pump out water from there.

[Seahawk]

There is a french drain.

The issue is pumps are running every 30 seconds since all the water if funneled to the lower sumps.

The battery back up is the most cost effective and I'll probably go that route. I hope to be out of here in the next two years. The house in SC is high and dry with no basement. Yeah!

The good news is I have great neighbors and the local cooperative has alert capability for notifying power outages via a smart phone so I need about ten hours depending if my wife and I are on a trip...thee neighbors are great but I'm not calling them at zero dark thirty.

The search continues!

[rwest]

I bought one of the commercially available combo sump and battery backup units that go in the basket. The battery pump is slightly higher than the main pump, so if the main pump fails for any reason, the battery unit kicks in.

I don’t know how long it would keep up, but I figure at least an hour or so and most of our outages are less than that. I should to a test, maybe it would be several hours? Using a big deep cycle battery.

[john70t]

Oh yeah. Mmmhmm. That page was written by AI to fill space on a page.
(AI is better than my in-class english lit essay on that book I never read..)

"Waterproofing your door is a great way to keep your home free of water damage. There are several ways to waterproof your door, but one of the best ways is to paint it."

"Painting your door with a waterproof sealant will help to keep water from seeping through the cracks and crevices and causing damage."

[john70t]

Water always runs downhill.
-Divert the uphill source
-Drain the pools

[Paul T]

Are you certain it's the door and not hydrostatic pressure coming up from the floor? I can't imagine a door being that leaky, but hard to say without knowing the situation. As for doors though, I would think a hurricane rated door would suffice, they are subjected to some pretty intense water and wind tests. Get something that meets FL building codes.

[Paul T]

[Dantilla]

I have a large diesel generator, but it does not power our well, which is about 600 feet away from the house.

I'm looking at putting in a solar/battery backup system.
Batteries that will run a 240 volt well pump, and a few solar panels to keep the batteries topped off.
A well pump, like a sump pump, only runs intermittently, so it should run for an extended period on battery alone.
Solar panels are a bonus.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Paul T

Are you certain it's the door and not hydrostatic pressure coming up from the floor? I can't imagine a door being that leaky, but hard to say without knowing the situation. As for doors though, I would think a hurricane rated door would suffice, they are subjected to some pretty intense water and wind tests. Get something that meets FL building codes.

I really did not explain this well, but your advice and video are great. My apologies.

The base of the FD is at the landing of the basement door, seven feet or so below grade, and it is tied into one sump pump with the second sump pump as additional help in rain seasons like this. The FD used to overflow and we had two water events 25 years ago before I installed the sumps.

I am going to do a door like you posted and battery backup. I have three backup generators that can power everything I need, including well and all other essentials except HVAC. I was just worried about being gone if power went out.

I really appreciate the insight.

Best.

[TimT]

Even if there was a watertight door, it would be of no use to me.. As mentioned water come up through the joints and cracks in my basement slab.. I live about 150' from a canal, and about 400' from a lake...

The water table has been unnaturally high recently... I've seen was entering my basement just from a tidal surge without any rain...

In the past week we've had 3 storms here dumping about 5in of rain.. last night. This is what I'm dealing with right now. Two sump pumps (plus a spare).

My house is 113 years old, and has some questionable construction.. note though that the builder constructed a raised platform for the boiler (steam heat) so they were aware of a ground water issue back then..

[john70t]

Originally Posted by TimT

I live about 150' from a canal, and about 400' from a lake...

That looks like a former buddy's place he was working on.
And me many times. After a 3hr one-way drive.
(I cringed when he waded across to reset the pump circuit breaker.)
(We had a day-long argument as to replacing kitchen flooring instead of shimming the old to put new click together on top of unstable base)

After it was drained, the bad surface mold was killed by running an ozone machine down there.
That stuff will seriously burn lung tissue. Don't be inside when it runs. A day or three to air out after.

You can buy any number of pumps and drain it into the yard with hoses.
A portable generator will power the same thing.

Be careful about the total draw on the box...

Another suggestion would be raising the floor a foot or so, if there is room, with some kind of epoxy vapor barrier up to rim joists.

[LWJ]

I have a customer who does 20+ million in water remediation a year. The most common theme? Remove it, not block it from entry.

Not sure if this helps. I get it. All three of the homes I have owned had significant water issues.

[Paul T]

Originally Posted by LWJ

I have a customer who does 20+ million in water remediation a year. The most common theme? Remove it, not block it from entry.

Not sure if this helps. I get it. All three of the homes I have owned had significant water issues.

I agree with that - anticipating water issues BEFORE you build will save you headaches, but few thought about that stuff back in the day….

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

I don't want to do the auto on generators due to cost and the need for propane or natural gas. I don't have either.

TIA.

Generac gas generators have autostart....ours does.

Relying on a battery is not a great plan, a one hour outage with incoming water will result in a flood.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

Generac gas generators have autostart....ours does.

Relying on a battery is not a great plan, a one hour outage with incoming water will result in a flood.

What size Generac do you have?

The reason this all came up is that I am selling one of my small companies and I'll be back to some traveling and my wife works full time.

For a year I will be gone a lot more (much rejoicing from the Mrs) and while we have electric start generators, it a timing problem getting power back to the sumps.

Thank you all for the advice and perspectives, much appreciated.

[astrochex]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

Generac gas generators have autostart....ours does.

Ours does too.

[gsxrken]

If you have city water, you might look into one of these:
https://www.supplyhouse.com/Liberty-Pumps-SJ10-SumpJet-Water-Powered-Sump-Pump-Back-Up-Emergency-System

Of course, if you have a well, it won’t help in a power outage.

You have a gamble to take. You’re leaving in 2 years and don’t want to spend. I get that. How often do you lose power, and is normally in rain storms… is one dimension. Another is leaving the wife at home for the better part of year. In that case you ordinarily want full fail safe automated power restoration, not just for the sump pumps. Water damage is a nightmare but so is a phone call from the wife in panic mode and you’re half a country away. BTDT.

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

What size Generac do you have?

15kW from memory, whole house (cottage). It's a snow area, power is out regularly year-round.