We had a deluge here overnight, over 4" by our rain gauge, and I just got a call from my wife that water has entered our basement. There is a patch of wet carpet extending about 3 feet in from the exterior door. The tile floor just inside the door is dry (no standing water), so it looks like the water is either coming up through the floor or, more likely, through the door.

This had happened in times of heavy rain in the past as well, but in our unfinished basement, it was not a major concern. Now that the basement is finished, it's a big problem. Nothing is in the HT (different room in basement), so the Axioms are fine, but I gotta take action!

Lesson learned - take care of problems before they get big.

Anyway, my wife's on her way to Home Depot to get a Shop-Vac and some kind of drying agent. She's gonna put fans down there and keep the dehumidifier running. I offered to come home and help, but she wisely said to stay here and earn the money that we'll need to fix the problem, that she'll take care of the basement water. She's a trooper, my wife.

I've called some waterproofing companies to get someone out to the house to see what we have to do to prevent this from happening in the future. Also, I've hit the web for info, as I'm not that practical/knowledgeable about home repair. What I have learned is:

* most likely we have a drainage problem, i.e. rainwater/groundwater is not being driven away from the house as it should.

* this probably is a consequence of

1. our gutters needing a cleaning so that they'll not overflow and dump water over their edge
2. our gutter spouts needing to be run further away from and downhill from the house
3. the area around our basement door needing a better-defined slope away from the house

What I worry about is the water under the carpet; i.e. will I need to replace the whole thing? Also, on the other half of the basement, there may be water under the hardwood floor.

Anybody been through this kind of thing and/or have any advice? Any info is much appreciated.

Bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica.