Guide · Sump pits & flooding
Sixty Minutes After a Basement Flood
Water on the basement floor makes everyone move fast. Moving in the right order matters more than moving quickly.
- A plumber answers when you call
- Clear price before any pipe is cut
- Basements left as clean as we found them
The Markham angle
Basements here are lived in. They hold guest rooms, home offices, rec rooms and, in many Milliken Mills and Middlefield homes, a second suite. That means carpet, drywall and furniture sit inches from the floor drain. The first hour decides whether you are drying out a corner or replacing a room.
Water usually arrives one of three ways: a supply leak such as a burst pipe or failed water heater, groundwater through the walls or sump pit, or sewage rising out of the floor drain in a storm. Each needs a slightly different response.
One step after another
- Stay safe first. If water is close to outlets, a furnace or a power bar, do not wade in. Shut the power to the basement at the panel provided the route to it keeps your feet on dry concrete. If you cannot, call Alectra or the fire department.
- Find the source. Is it clean water spraying from a pipe, seeping through a wall, or dark water rising from the floor drain?
- Stop the supply. For a pipe or tank leak, close the main shut-off. Our brief on locating your main shut-off shows where it typically hides.
- Stop using water upstairs. If the floor drain is backing up, each flush and load of laundry adds to the problem.
- Photograph everything. Take pictures and short videos before you move things. Your insurer will want them.
- Lift and move. Get boxes, electronics and rugs onto shelves or upstairs. Wet cardboard spreads mould quickly.
- Start removing water. A wet vacuum or towels for clean water; leave sewage cleanup to people with protective gear.
Slip-ups we see often
- Running fans or dehumidifiers plugged into basement outlets while the floor is still wet.
- Pulling up sewage-soaked carpet with bare hands.
- Assuming the problem ended when the water stopped. A blocked lateral or failed sump will repeat at the next rainfall.
- Pouring drain cleaner into a backed-up floor drain. It does not clear a main line and makes the water hazardous for whoever arrives next.
- Turning the power back on before an electrician or the utility has confirmed it is safe.
Time to pick up the phone
Right away if the source is a burst pipe, a leaking water heater, sewage from the floor drain or a sump pump that has stopped. We provide emergency plumbing across Markham, along with floor drain backup clearing and burst pipe repair.
Once things are dry, it is worth asking why it happened. A camera inspection of the sewer line, a backwater valve or a healthier sump setup can all keep the next storm out.
It does not clear a main line and makes the water hazardous for whoever arrives next.
From the job notes of Plumbers in Markham
Guide · Sump pits & flooding
Signs to watch for
- Motor humming while the pit stays full
- A clunk from the check valve every cycle
Call a plumber when
- Water is reaching a ceiling, wall cavity or electrical panel
- Sewage is coming up through a floor drain or toilet
- You smell gas near the water heater: leave and call the gas utility first
- A valve will not close or a fitting keeps weeping after tightening
Markham note. Snowmelt and April rain push Markham groundwater up fast, and a July cloudburst can dump weeks of rainfall within a few hours. Those are the weeks sump pumps fail, so we suggest a pail test in March and again before July.