Ejector pump failure, carpeted basement in Hinsdale, IL

The basement of this Hinsdale home flooded when the pumps could not keep up, and the job record points to the ejector pump. Dylan, our project manager, rated the water Category 3.

The plan called for twenty-seven air movers, but the house did not have enough electrical capacity to run them all, so the crew set twenty-three along with three dehumidifiers. Floor protection went down at the main-level entrance. In the main room the crew detached the baseboard and trim, drilled core holes in every wall, pulled up all of the vinyl flooring and removed the carpet pad, leaving the carpet itself to be lifted and dried. Each affected surface got antimicrobial. One dehumidifier and twelve air movers went into that room.

The smaller spaces followed the same pattern. The ejector pit closet had its baseboard detached and its walls core-holed, with one air mover. A basement closet had its baseboard and trim detached, its walls core-holed and its carpet pad removed, and got one air mover. The open area of the basement had its vinyl pulled and walls core-holed, and took two dehumidifiers and nine air movers. The scope allowed a flood cut on any wall where the insulation turned out to be wet. A 3D scan was recorded after the demolition for the file.

Three days later everything read dry except the carpet in the main room. The crew pulled fifteen air movers and two dehumidifiers and left eight air movers and a dehumidifier aimed at the carpet. Two days after that the carpet was dry, the last of the equipment came out and the certificate of completion was signed.

Lifting a carpet off its pad and blowing air beneath it is often what lets it stay, and here it dried two days after the rest of the basement.