Your finished basement is wet again after a rain nobody called a storm
The carpet is wet again, and last week's rain was nothing special. That is not always bad luck. In the area the Village's own drainage study examined, the system surcharges in a 1-year storm. Ask what keeps bringing the water back, get the mold assessment booked first, and let a different company handle any removal or drying.
Ask what keeps the water coming back. Asking commits you to nothing.
We help you find out what keeps sending water downstairs and get an assessment booked first, with any removal or drying from a different company after it.
In writing, before you book
Asking us costs nothing and binds you to nothing.
We ask what brings the water back before anyone cuts.
Whoever checks the result is not who removed the mold.
The $100 is applied the way our Terms page sets it out.
Each contractor answers for the work under their own contract.
Ask yourself whether the rain that wet your basement was a normal one.
Most people expect water in the house only after a record storm. The Village of Scarsdale's own drainage study says otherwise for the area it examined. It calls the existing drainage grossly undersized once a storm passes the 1-year size, and its model shows the system surcharging at several points in a 1-year storm itself.
A 1-year storm is roughly the rain an ordinary year brings. So for the houses that take water, it can come back on a schedule instead of once in a lifetime. The study looked at the Fox Meadow Road area. It does not say whether your address is in that area, and neither do we.
What to tell us
What you can do is tell us which rain wet your basement, whether the same kind of rain did it before, and what the weather was. That tells the assessor whether you are looking at a one-off or a path that stays open.
Write down what you remember before you call anyone. A rough date is enough, and a photo with a timestamp is better. The more exactly you can place the rain, the less the assessor has to guess.
The return ledger
How much rain does it take
The Village's own drainage study put numbers on this for one area. A 1-year storm is roughly the rain an ordinary year brings, so ask what that means for your water.
Ordinary year
The study found the drainage surcharging at several locations in a 1-year storm.
Bigger storm
Above a 1-year storm, the study calls the existing drainage grossly undersized.
Whole system
In a 10-year storm or greater, almost the entire modeled system surcharges.
Does a wet basement after ordinary rain mean my house is faulty?
Not always. In the area the Village's study examined, the drainage surcharges in a 1-year storm, so the cause can sit outside your lot. Ask the assessor to sort the building from the street, and tell them which rain did it.
Who do I call first, a mold company or a plumber?
Start with where the water came from. If it rose from a drain, the EPA points you to someone who has handled contaminated water before. Otherwise start with the assessment, and tell us which it was so we can help you book.
Do I need mold testing before anything is removed?
The state Labor Department says most cases need no air sampling or mold testing. Ask any assessor why they want samples, and what the result would change.
Why was there water downstairs but nothing in the living room?
The study says first floors in its area sit above flood limits for lesser storms, so water settles in lower finished space. Nobody is there to see it. Tell us when you last checked the lower level.
What does a mold assessment look at?
An assessor looks at where the water came from, what it touched and whether mold is present. Ask for the findings and the scope in writing. We are not the assessor, but we help you book one.
I am selling soon. Should I look into this now?
A sale is a good reason to learn the cause. The state disclosure form asks sellers about water and indoor mold, so know the history before you answer. Tell us your timing when you ask.
Does every nearby town have the same sewer rule as Scarsdale?
No. The Chapter 244 sewer-lateral rule is Scarsdale's own. Other towns have their own offices and codes, so open your town page and read what is sourced there.
The house
Why the water lands downstairs and not in the living room
Look at how the house sits, not only at the rain.
The study's damage analysis looked at houses with two stories, a basement that sits at least partly underground, and garage space. It says their main floors stand higher than the flood limits for smaller storms. So the water mostly stays in roads, driveways and patios, and generally does not reach the living rooms.
That is why no one is in the room when it arrives. The water goes to the rooms with drywall, carpet and stored things, the finished basement and the garage. The Village's own survey found basement and garage flooding common in the study area.
Walk your own house the same way. Is the lower level finished or bare? Does the garage take water first? Tell us what you find, and the assessor can start there.
If the garage took water first, say so. It tells the assessor which way the water was moving.
The house in section
Where the water lands in a house
Find the parts that match your house. Each one comes with a question to put to the assessor.
Living floor
Study homes keep first floors above lesser flood limits, so look hard at what sits below.
Finished basement
Drywall, carpet and pad hold water here. Ask what the assessor will open up.
Garage
The village's own survey found garage flooding common in the study area. Ask when yours last took water.
Driveway
Low driveways and patios collect water first. Ask which way yours slopes in rain.
Sump pump
In Scarsdale, a sump pump piped to the sewer is a known inflow source. Ask where yours discharges.
Roof leader
Under Scarsdale's rules, roof leaders piped to the sanitary line must be cut and rerouted. Ask where yours ends.
Yard drain
Scarsdale's list also covers yard and driveway drains piped to the sanitary line. Ask where yours runs.
Sewer lateral
The lateral is the pipe from house to main. In Scarsdale it is filmed for the sale certificate. Ask whether anyone has filmed yours.
Water in the same room can come from four different places.
Before anyone prices a repair, someone has to answer one question: where is it coming from? Sometimes it is a fault in the house, like a roof leader that ends at the wall. Sometimes it is street drainage, which sits outside your lot. Sometimes it came up a drain. Sometimes nothing is live at all.
Each answer changes what is worth spending. A fault in the house is yours to fix. A street problem sits outside your lot, so rebuilding the lowest room in full may only repeat the loss. Have the assessor name the source in writing before anyone quotes the work.
New York's Labor Law section 947 asks the assessor, to the extent feasible, to check that the underlying cause was fixed. Ask who is fixing the path, so that later check finds it fixed.
Where it comes from
Where is the water coming from
Four answers are possible, and each one changes what is worth spending inside the house.
A
A fault in the house
yours
A leader that ends at the wall, a failed sump or a low grade can send water in. These sit on your side of the lot line, and fixing them is what keeps the next rain out.
Where does the water get in?
B
Street drainage
outside your lot
If street drains surcharge, the cause sits outside your lot. That changes how much finished space is worth rebuilding in the lowest room.
Is anything on my lot letting water in, or is it the street?
C
Up a drain
a different job
Water that rose from a floor drain or toilet is not rain. It calls for a professional who handles contaminated water, and where a village rule applies, as in Scarsdale, sump or leader pipes tied to the sewer must be cut.
Did a drain, rather than a wall, bring this in?
D
No live source
good news
Sometimes the assessor finds old damage and no water path. Then you pay to deal with what is there, and you stop chasing a cause.
You may not go downstairs for a day or two after a rain. The EPA says wet areas and items need drying in 24 to 48 hours, and that materials dried that fast usually will not grow mold.
Miss that window and the picture changes. Per the EPA, carpet and ceiling tile are porous and can need discarding once moldy. Ask the assessor which layers behind them are affected. That is why we ask when the water came and when you first saw it.
If water is there now, get it dried and tell us. If it dried weeks ago and the smell stays, say that too. Either answer helps the assessor.
If you find water, stay away from wet outlets, cords and the panel, and have an electrician look before you go down.
The unseen days
The days nobody sees
In a finished basement, nobody is standing in the water when it arrives.
Rain arrives
The drains fill and the water finds the lowest room.
Nobody is there
The living floor stays dry, so the house feels fine. The lower level can sit wet unseen.
24 to 48 hours
The EPA says wet items need drying in 24 to 48 hours. Dried that fast, they usually do not grow mold.
Found later
Past that window, porous items may have to go. The EPA names carpet and ceiling tile, and says mold works into them.
Get wet space dried inside the EPA window, then ask why.
The order
Diagnose first, remove second, dry and fix last
The order is the point.
Section 930 of the state Labor Law treats mold remediation as removal, cleaning, sanitizing and containment, and leaves out repairing whatever keeps the area damp. So removal alone does not stop a repeat.
That is why the diagnosis comes first and the fix last. Ask whoever quotes removal who is closing the water path. Drying can come first when the water was a single recent leak, with the assessment after.
01
Diagnose and assess
Find what keeps bringing the water back, then book an assessment. The assessment tells you what is affected.
02
A separate company removes
A different company removes what the assessment found. Ask for the scope in writing.
03
Dry, then fix the path
Dry the space and close the path the water took. Otherwise the next ordinary rain can bring it back.
We cover Scarsdale and Hartsdale, then White Plains, Harrison and Rye, then Mamaroneck, Larchmont and New Rochelle. Hartsdale, for one, is an unincorporated hamlet in the Town of Greenburgh, so its permits come from the town and not from a village hall.
Pick your town below and read what is sourced there before you ask. Each page says which office handles permits, so you know who to call.
Use the sale as a prompt to ask, and keep the worry out of it.
Since March 20, 2024, New York's property condition disclosure statement has asked sellers about flooding and water penetration. It also asks whether the home was tested for indoor mold, and for a copy of any report.
In the Village of Scarsdale, a sale also needs a Discharge Compliance Certificate under Chapter 244. The Village's Building Department issues it after an approved plumber, engineer or architect films the sewer lateral. We do not supply or arrange the certificate, and a mold job does not replace it.
If you are selling or under contract, tell us your timing when you ask. Learn the cause while there is time to fix it, and know the history before you fill in the form.
If you are the buyer, the same questions apply in reverse. Ask the seller what water came in, what was found and who fixed the cause, and keep the answers.
What moves the bill
What changes the bill, and who sets it
Contractors set their own prices. These factors move them.
How many rooms and finished layers the water reached.
Whether carpet, pad and drywall must come out or can be cleaned.
Whether rain caused it or a drain did.
How long it sat before drying started.
Whether the cause is fixed, since an unfixed cause means paying twice.
How easy the space is to reach, with built-ins, stairs and stored things in the way.
Ask each contractor to write down which of these they assumed, so you can compare quotes fairly. Already hold a quote? Use this list to ask what each scope should answer.
