Green Oak Township, Michigan
When homeowner Brent Zinn bought his house last December, he had a rude awakening come spring.
“My walk-out basement doors are at the lowest point in the neighborhood,” he explains. “When the ground thawed, the water from melting snow and ice basically rolled down the ground and straight into my finished basement. There was a tremendous amount of water coming in.”
Built in 1991, the yard was never graded properly. This past winter was particularly harsh with several large snowfalls. “The ground would warm up then freeze again and again creating ice which basically sealed up the ground and prevented water from soaking in,” says Zinn.
The previous homeowners had a 55 gallon trashcan filled with rocks buried underground that would collect the sheets of water from the gutter downspouts.
“The water would go into the ground and then geyser back up and come right back in the house,” Zinn says. He tried putting sandbags outside the basement doors and purchased a large gas pump to force the water out of the basement. “I had many sleepless nights and missed days from work trying to manage the pump and protect my investment.”
Zinn was between a rock and hard place because it was a foreclosed house. As such, he had signed paperwork agreeing that the bank did not have to disclose any information nor can the buyer sue. “My inspector did not catch the extent of the flooding and I was completely helpless.”
Zinn received many proposals from local contractors including one who suggested sealing up the basement by closing up the door and putting in an egress window. “Not only is having a walkout a key selling point of the home but that would have taken my problem and made it everyone else’s problem. As the low point in the subdivision, the water has nowhere else to go. It would have created a big lake in the back of all our houses.” Zinn is very pleased with the solution found by John Van Oyen, of Tony Van Oyen Builders, who managed the project. “I have to thank John for coming up with a unique solution. This is the best system at the best cost.” Van Oyen selected Triton Stormwater Solutions to mitigate the problem. “I saw different systems but liked the way the Triton system snaps together easily,” says Van Oyen, who is also a septic contractor.
A 45' long x 8' wide trench was dug and laid with six inches of stone. Sixteen chambers were buried at the low point in the yard where the water flows naturally. A center riser that comes to the surface serves as a catch basin, with two sump basins and two dumpsters to collect the run-off and disperse it into the soil. The system holds 6,410 gallons.
“This is really the only solution other than maybe a French drain, but in this case, that would get clogged very quickly with all the nearby trees that lose their leaves in fall,” says Joe Miskovich, president of Triton Stormwater Solutions.
A four person team installed the system in three days, including excavating, placing the system and returning it to grade. The site provided some challenges with the smattering of trees near the installation site. “The confines of the site were tight,” says Miskovich. “In addition, a bobcat needed to go all the way around to the front of the house to pick up rock and then come all the way back, weaving between the trees, to fill the hole — being careful not to ride on neighboring lawns.”
Green Oak Township is a quiet rural community outside metro Detroit with many inland lakes and sandy soil with homes on septic systems. “This is a great opportunity for residential developers because the land is very well suited to infiltration,” explains Miskovich.
Van Oyen agrees, adding that there is no need for retention ponds which are dangerous for kids. “Instead kids can use the space above the infiltration system to play and no one even needs to know it’s there.”
The timing couldn’t have been better as the area was hit by storms created by Hurricane Ike later that night after the installation was completed. “It’s a pretty nifty system,” says Zinn. “With its capacity, even if it instantly fills up from rain or 3 feet of snow melts in a day, it could accommodate it. It has a lifetime warranty and an alarm system. I don’t think I’ll ever have to worry about a pump again. The peace of mind is worth every penny.”
