Homeowners Battling Basement Leaks Across Metro

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Some homeowners in the Twin Cities are fighting Mother Nature in their own basements Thursday night.

"We got a water problem, a little water problem," Nathan Santos said.

Santos was forced to take the day off work.

"It's coming up from the floor, it's coming from the wall," Santos said.

Santos says his relaxing space in the basement of his Maple Grove home flooded because of the snow he didn't shovel outside.

"I'm regretting not doing this big time. This is all leaking straight down and into the corner and into my basement, and it happened on the same day that my sump pump decided to stop working," Santos said.

Santos's Dad, David, took the day off to help him shovel snow away from the house's foundation, but the damage is already done.

"The snow I wasn't moving here is coming down from this side and now seeping down the foundation on this side, which isn't even getting to the sump pump and we still have water flowing down the side of this wall where I have to go move all the snow I had moved off my roof," Santos said.

Across the metro in Robbinsdale, Sarah Sanford is watching melting snow and rain move from her backyard into her basement and garage.

"This is our lake and despite the fact that the water runs off the roof and to the downspouts and away from the house, the water in the backyard has gotten so high between the rain and the snow melt that it's coming up the window wells," Sanford said.

Because her backyard is frozen solid, Sanford says the water has nowhere to go. Water is leaking through her window wells and into her basement bathroom.

"More rain has come down since we started pumping water out of the window wells," Sanford said.

Water is also flowing into her garage. Sanford has three pumps pumping water out of her home.

Both homeowners say making sure your sump pump is in working condition and moving snow from around your house's foundation is key to keeping water out your basement.