Hope everyone dried out okay after this weekend, Fairfield got hit hard. We figured we'd share our own story from Sunday night, since we're guessing a lot of you have a similar one.

We are half way through September, and Sunday’s storm dropped a ridiculous amount of rain in a short amount of time. It was so bad that we had to cut our boys’ football film session short just to get them home before the roads got any worse.

Once we got home, we found some standing water in one corner of the basement and a fair amount of seepage, nothing drastic. Lucky for us, everything of worth down there lives in Rubbermaid bins, so nothing actually got ruined. Small thing, but worth mentioning if you haven't done it yet: it's a cheap way to basement-proof whatever you're storing.

Our sump pump worked overtime that night, and we were glad we'd had it checked out by Connecticut Basements about four months ago. Even with a working sump and a French drain feeding into it, we still got some seepage. That's just how much water came down.

We actually ordered a portable backup sump pump Sunday night, on a whim, and it showed up at our door at 5AM the next morning, still can't believe that turnaround: amzn.to/46kVKmv. Heads up, it doesn't come with a hose, so you'll want to grab one at Home Depot if you need to run the water out and away from your foundation. It's built for pumping standing water (a quarter inch or deeper) out into a bucket or hose, and it's not a replacement for a real sump pump, more of an emergency backup. If you're one of the families still dealing with water in your basement right now, this could genuinely be worth having on hand. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases, so grabbing yours this way also helps support the newsletter.

If your sump pump has a float switch (same idea as the one in your toilet tank) that kicks the pump on once water rises in the well, and you've got a French drain feeding into it like we do, you're already ahead of a lot of houses. But storms like Sunday's are a good reminder that even a solid setup can still get some seepage, worth double-checking now while it's fresh on everyone's mind. Here's what else is worth doing this week.

A working sump pump is the difference between "a little seepage" and "a real problem," and most people never think about theirs until it's already too late. Annual maintenance, testing the float switch, cleaning the pit, checking the check valve, typically runs $100 to $250 a year, and most sump pump repairs land between $309 and $755 if something's actually failed (HomeGuide, HomeAdvisor). Pumps generally need a real inspection every 3 to 12 months, not just a glance. If your pump ran nonstop Sunday night, that's your sign to get it looked at now rather than waiting for the next storm to find out it's tired. Truthfully, should have had it done in early spring.

If Sunday wasn't your first round of seepage this year, or the water's coming in from more than one spot, it might be time to look past DIY fixes. In Connecticut, interior drainage systems (French drains plus a sump pump, similar to what we have) typically run $4,500 to $14,000, while exterior waterproofing with excavation runs quite a bit higher, often $10,000 to $25,000 (Current Cost). Most CT homeowners land closer to $9,900 for a full interior system (HomeTriva). Smaller issues, like a single problem area, can sometimes be handled for $500 to $2,500 without a full system overhaul (Budget Dry). Worth a call to a local pro for a real quote before assuming you need the expensive version.

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