The same thing happened to our basement. Our problem was that our old main sewage line was blocked up. Since it was an old clay pipe and they couldn't get it routed...we had to have a 10 foot deep hole dug in our front lawn to install a PVC access point to route it out.
If you've had runny toilets in the basement or they are not flushing the best that they could, you may have a drainage problem.
Essentially...we had a lot of rain...at first we thought it was the sump pump because one of our two died. So we had to replace the one WHILE water was rising in the sump pit about 1 inch every 2 minutes...that was exciting while I was the one to empty it out with a bucket while my dad was buying a sump pump.
Once we got that fixed, we figured out we had leakage coming through the wall...and at the same time our water softener started leaking. So, essentially, our basement was all soaked, all the carpet had to get ripped up, and most of the drywall had to get the bottom 16 inches cut off of it.
Yep...my parents were very lucky it happened when I was home so I could move all the stuff into the garage while they were at work...and this all happened over Christmas...what a week.
