water in the basement part two

The clean-up continued on Sunday 7/24.  Neither Baker nor Amanda helped at all.  Both were available.

I am delighted that the mildew smell is all but gone in the basement.  It is Thursday night 7/28.  I did not finish the clean-up job.  But I did buy boards and built a mini dike across the sliding glass door opening in the basement.  I screwed boards to the bricks and attached them to a long board that went from the inside of one side of the opening to the other.

The patio is not perfectly flat.  For much of the length of the long board, which is about 11 feet, there is a gap of about 1/2 inch.  I used two tubes of sealer.  I checked the sealer 24 hours after I had put it in.  It is as soft and wet as it was when I applied it.  I do not understand what has happened. 

The sealer should have hardened.

A friend of mine named Tim who is in the landscaping business and lives in the area stopped by tonight.  I had told him about my basement flooding problems.  He came over with two of his kids.  They were out for a bike ride.

I showed him my backyard.  He said that he thinks that I need to add some top soil to direct water away from the basement but more importantly he said that he thinks the two back down spouts from my gutters are draining into the lower patio and causing flooding.  It was kind of him to come and take a look and offer his suggestions.  I will follow his advice.

It is horrible to have to worry every time it rains.