Ease my mind on subpumps

The house we may make an offer has sealant on the basement, two sub-pumps and french drains. The guy put them in after 2005 flood happened. People are saying walk away but there was no moisture at all after a week and a half of rain, no dehumidifier even running and there was no smell or wetness at all. The house is in MINT condition and the price is perfect for us - are we walking into hell or the owner was upfront and did everything he needed to do to ensure there never was an issues like in 2005.

Re: Ease my mind on subpumps

seems like the owner did his job, My DH put french drains in his office years ago because its a basement and it flooded.
They work so well thankfully we have not had a flood since. french drains are not cheap to install either.

My inlaws had a flood in their basement, they put in a sump pump.
My inlaws take amazing care of their house, their home is in south merrick and worth $$$$
So a flood can happen to anyone IMO

Re: Ease my mind on subpumps

THANK YOU!

Re: Ease my mind on subpumps

that's why you do an inspection, and also why you have flood insurance!

(which is very expensive!!)

Re: Ease my mind on subpumps

did you see any water stains anywhere?


I don't want to spook you because the french drains may have addressed the water issue, but I know that we still had water problems with 3 sump pumps and an industrial dehumidifier. Even though we would get 1"+ of water in the basement in some spots, you would never be able to tell based on odor alone. The dehumidifier did an awesome job of removing any smells, but you could visually see water stains on the concrete.


How dry is the pump? I know ours' were bone dry (with cobwebs ) once we resolved our water problems.


What's the property like? How does the grade flow? What about the gutters and down spouts? Are they new and where do they flow to? What kind of soil does the property have (clay vs sand)? Is the area known for having high water tables?

Re: Ease my mind on subpumps

it had water and it was pumping out - so i am thinking the home has drainage issues that is why he did all of it. I am thinking that we may have to pass it up which is so sad but we may go with it and get an engineer to look at it.