We had a similar issue when we first moved in—water pooling after storms and all that. Before jumping into liners or anything, did you have a camera inspection done yet? We had one, and it showed tree roots causing the blockage. Also, soil shifting usually leaves other clues like cracks in basement walls or uneven floors... noticed anything like that around your place?
Had a similar situation at an older property I managed, and while tree roots are definitely common culprits, sometimes it's simpler stuff. In our case, turned out the previous owner had installed a makeshift grate that was catching debris and clogging things up every storm. Took ages to figure out because we jumped straight to the camera inspection first. Might be worth checking if there's any DIY "fixes" from past owners lurking down there before you spend money on inspections or liners...
"Might be worth checking if there's any DIY 'fixes' from past owners lurking down there..."
Good point. Had a similar headache once—turned out someone had jammed a wire mesh halfway down the drain to "catch leaves." Took forever to pinpoint. Definitely worth a quick look before calling in the pros.
Good catch on the DIY angle. Had something similar—previous owner stuffed old pantyhose down ours as a makeshift filter. Worked fine until it didn't... Definitely worth poking around first, might save you some hassle later.
Yeah, DIY fixes can be hit or miss. Pantyhose trick is pretty common—seen it plenty of times—but it's really just a temporary band-aid. Usually, basement drains backing up means there's a deeper issue like roots in the line or buildup further down. I'd recommend pulling out whatever's stuffed down there and running a proper snake through the drain. If you're comfortable with it, renting a power auger from your local hardware store can clear things up nicely. Just be careful not to force it too hard if you hit resistance—you don't wanna damage the pipe. If that doesn't do the trick, might be time to call someone in for a camera inspection to see what's really going on down there...
