Is my sewer line broken?

Question

Home Built: 1955. New York City.

https://imgur.com/a/mpjRvKl

Landscape is pitched towards the street, so I don’t think grading was an issue. I moved in a year ago and in the front corner of the basement (unfinished room) started leeching small amounts of water up through the floor. I thought it was a grading issue with the lawn, so I re-graded it. I thought it was the underground downspout because I looked down and saw a crack, so I move the downspout down the driveway (see pic). I thought it was the concrete sinking towards the house, so I put a sandbag.

But I still get water when it rains hard. Not anything too extreme, but still concerning. I leave a towel and been tolerating it. I’ve been trying to rule out things over the past year but I'm all out of options.

It rained hard twice this week, got the usual water but for some reason (I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner) but I lifted the metal plate in the water room and saw a small pool by I’m thinking the sewer pipe? Or water main, not sure what it is to be honest. The water room is on the same side of the basement but in the middle of the room. I have a video where I can visibly see water running/leaking from what looks like the sewer drain pipe. This was hours AFTER the rain stopped. Which I found weird.

I've ruled out all that I can on my own, what are my next steps. Should I call the water and sewer line protection people?

Answer 1

No. It isn't sewer. It isn't the water main.

The hole in your basement floor is your sump.

Your foundation looks like rubble at that point.

Generally the solution is going to be to dig up the outside perimeter of your house. Replace your vitrified clay pipe perimeter drain with perforated pvc pipe to pick up the ground water and route that to an exterior sump before it is directed to the city storm. You'd also parge and portions of the exterior foundation wall that look dicey and then use waterproofing. You can either use a bucket of tar like water proofing or there are companies that come out and spray it. To go the extra mile you'd add dimple fabric like delta ms to avoid hydrostatic pressure on your foundation wall.

The full fix gets expensive fast.

Your biggest problem is likely that the rain drains and the perimeter drains are tied together. I'd start by using solid pvc 4" pipe and picking up all the downspouts on the house and routing those to an exterior sump well which is then plumbed to the city storm drains. You can worry about the water table/ground water after.