Home repair experts

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

Water seeped into my dining room and ruined my parquet floors during that last rain. What kind of handyman should I call to fix the problem so it doesn't happen again? Are there experts who do this kind of thing?

[Petro-Sooner]

A handy man that takes care of leaks may be the best option.

[OUDoc]

Flooring guy or any good carpenter should be able to help.

[Mjcpr]

Seeped in where?

[sanantoniosooner]

If it happened because of the rain then you either need a roofer, gutter man, or french drain guy to fix your problem. It's tough to say without looking at it, but if you have no ceiling damage also, I would look to see if there is standing water outside the house near the damage. Then it will take gutters at the least and possibly even a french drain to make sure the area sheds water.

[BlondeSoonerGirl]

I'm waiting for SicEm's advice...

[TopDaugIn2000]

did it come in from above or below?????

[JohnnyMack]

Can you have secks on it?



The ruined floor that is.

[OUDoc]

She said "seeped", I assumed low.

[TopDaugIn2000]

my parents had the same problem in a sunroom they built, we ended up putting in a french drain.

[BigRedJed]

I prefer to call it a "freedom drain." kthx.

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

Can you have secks on it?



The ruined floor that is.If you want splinters in assorted places.

I had a plumber come look at it becuase I thought I had a busted pipe. He said the water appeared to be coming in from my flower bed that is right outside that room. It's a converted garage, so it makes sense there would be some leaks after so many years.

Screw the expense of a freedom drain, I just want someone to caulk it or something so it doesn't happen again.

[Mjcpr]

Screw the expense of a freedom drain, I just want someone to caulk it or something so it doesn't happen again.

Where I come from, that's called freedom rigging it.

[sanantoniosooner]

Make sure they use silicone, or even better, polyurethane caulk. It's very slow drying, but it is very good. Silicone wont hold paint if you caulk in a place that needs to be painted.

Paintable silicone is crap.

[jk the sooner fan]

i have a drainage problem on the side of my house and apparently a water table under the foundation that causes a wet floor in one spot during prolonged heavy rains...

a french drain helped, but not completely.....start with a plumber to check that its not a fresh water leak, go from there

[Mjcpr]

If you want splinters in assorted places.

I had a plumber come look at it becuase I thought I had a busted pipe. He said the water appeared to be coming in from my flower bed that is right outside that room. It's a converted garage, so it makes sense there would be some leaks after so many years.

Screw the expense of a freedom drain, I just want someone to caulk it or something so it doesn't happen again.

Is there an outside water faucet near that area? If you don't cover them and unhook the water hose in the winter they can cause your pipes to freeze in the wall. Then when you turn the faucet on in the spring, you get a nice little pond in one of yours rooms.

Believe me, I know how that works.

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/7742/myhousejb8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Here is a picture of my house. The plumber said it looked like maybe water came in after that flowerbed flooded. My dining room is about 18 inch lower than other rooms in my house so I guess it took the water a little bit to soak down far enough to come in the house.

I just realized that after the carport was removed, we didn't add any gutters. Looks like that could prevent it from happening again.

He ruled out pipes freezing and slab leaks.

[mdklatt]

If you want splinters in assorted places.


:hot:

[jk the sooner fan]

a plumber ruled out a slab leak?

give me his number! :)

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

a plumber ruled out a slab leak?

give me his number! :)He ruled out a slab leak because my meter wasn't going crazy.

[jk the sooner fan]

ok he can turn off the water and determine that its not coming from plumbing IN the slab, but i dont think he can tell you there isnt a problem with the slab that allows ground water to come up........ground water wont make your meter go crazy

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

Oh exactly. That's why I want a home repair/carpenter type person to look at it. Unfortunately, that skill in my family died when my Dad did.

[OUAndy1807]

I would go with a four pronged attach:
1) gutters will help
2) caulk the base of the wall, listen to sas' advice on type
3) slope the dirt away from the house as much as possible to make sure that any water that does get into the area sheds away from the house.
4) french drain: I'd talk to a yard sprinkler installer, not a plumber. plumbers can be proud of their work, sprinkler guys use illegal labor so they'll get the job done cheaper and quicker.

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

I would go with a four pronged attach:
1) gutters will help
2) caulk the base of the wall, listen to sas' advice on type
3) slope the dirt away from the house as much as possible to make sure that any water that does get into the area sheds away from the house.
4) french drain: I'd talk to a yard sprinkler installer, not a plumber. plumbers can be proud of their work, sprinkler guys use illegal labor so they'll get the job done cheaper and quicker.Should I raise the floor inside to the same level as the rest of the house?

[OUAndy1807]

you could just get wood pallets and line the floor with them. Then, the only time your stuff would get wet is if there was more than 4" of water.

[jk the sooner fan]

my french drain cost me $580.....and Angel the mexican sprinkler dude did it.....the other companies gave me bids of $1300 and $1800

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

my french drain cost me $580.....and Angel the mexican sprinkler dude did it.....the other companies gave me bids of $1300 and $1800Oh that's nice to know. I'd heard they cost an arm and a leg. See if we get rid of all the illegals who will do my cheap labor?

[JohnnyMack]

Should I raise the floor inside to the same level as the rest of the house?

You might try raisin' the roof.





You'll find I'm essentially no help at all when it comes to handy man type work.

[sanantoniosooner]

You might try raisin' the roof.





You'll find I'm essentially no help at all when it comes to handy man type work.
I can name other areas where you are no help at all.

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

Thanks for your help!

I saw on the news where some people had 4 inches of raw sewage running through their house. Things could always be worse than what's going on at my casa.

[Mjcpr]

You might try raisin' the roof.

There's a party over here, a party over there!

http://www.chicagodefender.com/images/upload/poperatzingerlarge.jpg

[TopDaugIn2000]

it cost my parents a few bucks in materials and my step-dad and I were the mexicans doing the labor!!!!!!

[sooner_born_1960]

Thanks for your help!

I saw on the news where some people had 4 inches of raw sewage running through their house. Things could always be worse than what's going on at my casa.
They do need a plumber.

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

Ok so I ended up getting a french drain. They did it all today. I haven't been over to look at it yet, but my mom stopped by just as they were finishing. They also did a few surface drains.

They had to rip out all my shrubs under the window. I figured they would because the nimrods who planted them placed them less than a foot from the house.

Next order of business is getting some guttering then a new dining room floor.