Water in cellar

MickyP1969

Hello all,
I have some foul smelling water(not a great deal) coming into my cellar, it seems to be coming in at the bottom of the blocked up coal hole wall(house is a middle terrace, circa 1900) we`ve had the water board in & they`ve give it the once over & found nothing wrong. I`d like to get it sorted so I can use the cellar as a gym for my young sons. Any help would be much appreciated.

Wookey

It's possibly rainwater seeping in, check round the exterior of your house and make sure all rainwater gully's are clear and free flowing, check for broken downspouts and guttering, when its raining heavily take a look out round and ensure there is no river of rainwater running past your house.

Also take a sample of the water and do a simple test on it for chlorine (soluble tablets are available for this) if a chlorine test is positive there is a good chance that the incoming water is from a burst or leaking water pipe internally or externally.

In really extreme cases where no other solution is possible then a sump dug into the floor and a pump installed working of a float switch is about the only cheap option.

MickyP1969

We can hear the water coming into the cellar when the bath is emptied, it seems to be coming in where the coal hole used to be, would this indicate a broken drain under the ground or a problem with the fall pipe?

Mankysteve

Possible as he said get a chlorine test kit.

dampdaveski

sounds like a cracked drain / connection micky,
Are there signs of a drain externally where the coal hole is?.
If so the next step is to determine WHO is responsible for the drain
If it's on the public footpath then hopefully your local water authority will assume responsibilty, if it's in your back garden then it is likely it is down to you.
either way the drain wants excavating / exposing and the appropriate repair carrying out.
the only thing to bear in mind is that NOW a 'pathway' for water to ingress into your basement has happened, ground water may penetrate more easily to this area in the future.
Only thing you can do is keep an eye on it and see what happens.
waterproofing basements is generally a bit 'onerous' basically the drier you want it to be, the more expensive it is to do.
Thing to do is get the drain fixed and see what happens, and react accordingly when something happens

Wookey

A tiny drop of emulsion paint mixed into the bath water next time you empty will act as a dye, if the water that enters the cellar is the colour of the paint then you know what the problem is, all you need to do is find the break in the pipe.

dampdaveski

Wookey wrote: »

A tiny drop of emulsion paint mixed into the bath water next time you empty will act as a dye, if the water that enters the cellar is the colour of the paint then you know what the problem is, all you need to do is find the break in the pipe.

Excellent idea Wookey, though i'd use a good 'glug' as the earth around your drain and wall will act as a filter.
I've used this before with good results, though I used mortar colouring, but you don't really want that in your bath

rachbc

or just put on of those glittery lush bath bombs in and have a nice bath before checking if you have a glittery cellar