My uncle told me to "never buy a house with a basement" and I laughed at him until the flood came

He grew up in Iowa and had two basements flood in the 90s. I bought a house in Nashville with a finished basement for $180k and six years later the sump pump failed during a storm and ruined the whole thing. Anyone else regret ignoring that one relative who actually knew what they were talking about?

4 comments

4 Comments

jade5171mo ago

Did you ever see those videos of people kayaking through their own living rooms? I had a buddy in St. Louis who laughed off his dad's warnings about basement flooding, and then a 100 year storm hit and he was literally scooping water out of his furnace with a bucket. It's crazy how we all think we're the exception until the water's up to our ankles.

spencer_coleman1mo ago

Ngl that home theater floating down the hallway is such a vivid image and it hurts because I had basically the same thing happen with my gaming setup. Tbh my grandpa warned me for years about basements and I just thought he was being an old worrywart until I was literally bailing water out of my own living room at 3am.

angela5871mo ago

My buddy had this exact same thing happen with his retro arcade cabinets in the basement... he spent years restoring them and thought he was safe because he had a sump pump. Then a crazy storm hit and he woke up at 2am to water creeping over the floorboards. He literally watched his Donkey Kong machine tip over and float into his pool table like it was nothing... his wife still brings it up at family dinners. Now every time someone mentions finishing a basement he just sighs real heavy and changes the subject.

emma_flores1mo ago

I laughed at him until the flood came" - yeah that line hit me like a brick to the face because I did the exact same thing. My grandpa swore up and down basements were nothing but moldy money pits and I rolled my eyes. Fast forward to a freak thunderstorm and my fancy home theater setup was floating down the hallway like a sad little raft. Now I get to tell my own horror story to anyone who will listen while I pay off the remediation loan. Uncle wisdom is basically free insurance you're too stubborn to cash in.