I have a problem and a question. We had new drain tiles installed around the entire house about 6 months ago. Now that it has started raining alot, our basement is flooded with about 3 inches of water and it keeps coming in. A plubmer that we had come out and look says that the drainage pipes broke or bent in one area out side the house. In that area, we had some landscaping work done and the landscaper used a compactor to flatten the ground. Were the pipes installed incorrectly? Shouldn't pipes be able to handle that kind of weight from above without breaking?

The plumber suggested that maybe there was no rock underneath the pipes. Could this be the case?

Help!!

The problem stems from the fact that the ground had not had a chance to settle from the tile work. If the ground had compressed enough, the tamping from the landscaper may have caused the crack. Do NOT blame the landscaper, he did his job properly, the tile installers did not. Of course, if the landscaper did not slope the ground away from your house 1" per foot, he may also be part of the leakage problem.

Damn good plumber you have- not many are able to see underground. He is taking an educated guess, just as I am by saying your ground probably is not graded properly. I have a personal gripe with contractors who try to repair leaks by digging up the yard or placing interior sumps and drainage systems without trying to correct the problem from the outside. These are big money makers for them- labor intensive and cheap materials...