So I decide to get up. Figured it wasn't something I wanted to wait till morning to tackle. I get up and head to the basement with Chris and expect the worst. It turns out that the sump pump was working. In fact, both pumps were working. The battery backup has a pump on it so it was running because the water level was so high. When Chris got there he said it was overflowing. He said that we had a TON of rain that night. That he had to drive about 15mph on his way home because it was so bad. And that it wasn't just a short burst. It had been raining like that for a long time.
"What!?"
"Umm..the basement is flooding and the battery backup alarm is going off"
Luckily there wasn't that much stuff on the floor that could get damaged. And there wasn't that much water overflowing. The sump hole is in our storage area which is unfinished and most of the stuff in there is up off the floor, in rubbermaid containers or not important enough to worry about. (a good way to clean out old junk!). I look at the wall and see water coming down from the top of the foundation. It wasn't actually running. (I saw evidence of it coming down). The bathroom is next to the storage room and the floor in there was wet and the carpet just outside the bathroom was wet. That is about 9 sq ft of carpet that we cleaned up. I love my new shop vac.
It turns out that part of the reason for the backup is my fault. The other day I brought a bunch of wood back from my dad's farm. I drove through the yard to unload it so I didn't have to carry each piece all the way around the house. (Sounds lazy and it is. But it was the end of a long day and it was starting to rain). Anyway, I moved the hose that drains the sump out of the way and it ended up in the yard. This apparently was too much for the sump pump since it didn't drain freely (and pushed some water back towards the foundation). Once I moved that back into the driveway the sump pump started draining the water in the hole.
However, the alarm on the battery backup would not shut off! It was showing that the battery needed attention. There are lights on there so I can tell why the alarm is going off. Usually its because the battery needs more water in it. It went off because the water level got too high as well. But we filled the batter with water and the water level was below the sensor. So instead of deal with it at 4am I decided to unplug the whole thing, pop the hot wire off the battery and work with it today. (and hope we didn't have a power failure!).
Ok. It wasn't a little rain and not a lot of stupidity...and only a little flood. But I think you get the idea.
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