Basements in Lake in the Hills flood most often when fall rain soaks the ground faster than the sump pump can move water away, or when the pump quits altogether. A power outage, a stuck float switch, a blocked discharge line and gutters packed with leaves are the usual reasons that happens.

Lake in the Hills grew up around Woods Creek Lake, which the village history says was dammed and dug out in 1923. Water has shaped this town from the start, and it still shapes what happens below grade in a lot of local houses.

The same story plays out next door in Algonquin and Crystal Lake every October and November. A long, steady rain arrives, the pump in the corner of the basement is asked to run for hours, and homeowners find out whether it is up to the job.

How does a sump pump keep a basement dry?

A sump pump collects groundwater before it reaches your floor and sends it outside. Drain tile around the foundation carries water to a pit, called a sump basin, set into the basement slab.

When water in the pit rises to a set level, a float switch turns the pump on. The pump pushes the water up a discharge pipe, through the wall and out to the yard. A check valve on that pipe keeps the water from running back down when the pump shuts off.

That is the whole system: a pit, a switch, a motor, a pipe and a valve. Any one of them can stop it.

Why do sump pumps fail during fall storms?

Sump pumps fail in fall storms because the storm asks for the most work at the moment the pump is least ready. Many pumps sit idle through a dry stretch in late summer, and nobody knows there is a problem until the pit fills.

These are the common causes:

• Power loss. Wind and rain take out electricity, and a standard pump stops with it. Without a battery backup, the pit overflows.
• A stuck float switch. The float can catch on the side of the basin, on the pump cord or on debris, so the motor never gets the signal to start.
• A blocked discharge line. Leaves, mulch, a crushed pipe or an early freeze at the outlet can stop the flow. The pump runs, and the water has nowhere to go.
• A worn pump. Motors and switches wear out. A pump that hums without moving water, or one that cycles on and off every few seconds, is close to the end.
• A pump that is too small. During a heavy rain, water can enter the pit faster than a small pump can remove it.
• A failed check valve. Water drains back into the pit after each cycle, and the pump works twice as hard for the same result.

What else lets water into a basement in the fall?

The pump is the last line of protection, and several things can overload it or bypass it. Most of them are outside the house.

Gutters fill with leaves in October. When they overflow, roof water pours straight down beside the foundation instead of traveling through the downspouts. A downspout that ends right at the wall does the same thing.

Soil that has settled toward the house sends surface water to the foundation. Window wells collect leaves and fill like buckets. Cracks in a poured wall or gaps around pipes let water seep through under pressure from wet ground.

Floor drains are another route. During a heavy storm, an overloaded sewer line can push water back up through a basement drain. That is a different kind of water than rain seeping through a wall, and it changes how the cleanup is done.

What makes Lake in the Hills basements prone to water?

Three local facts matter here: the lake, how fast the village grew and the fall rain pattern.

First, the village has water at its center. Woods Creek Lake is the largest lake in the village, and a little over two percent of the village's area is water according to U.S. Census Bureau figures. Homes in the older neighborhoods near the lake, some of which began as summer houses, sit close to that water.

Second, the village grew quickly. The village reports that its population grew from just under 6,000 in 1990 to 28,982 at the 2020 census. Growth like that means many basements, and the sump systems in them, were built in those same years. A pump that has sat in the pit since the house was built has done a lot of work.

Third, fall is steadily wet. The Illinois State Climatologist lists long-term normal rainfall (1981 to 2010 averages) for nearby Woodstock at roughly 3.4 inches in September, 2.9 inches in October and 2.7 inches in November. Those totals are not extreme. The trouble comes when a good part of a month's rain falls in a day or two onto ground that is already soaked, with gutters full of leaves.

How can you test your sump pump before the next storm?

You can test a sump pump in about ten minutes with a bucket of water. Do it now, while the weather is dry.

1. Check that the pump is plugged into a working outlet and that the cord is in good shape.
2. Lift the lid and look in the pit. Remove gravel, mud or anything that could jam the float.
3. Slowly pour a five-gallon bucket of water into the pit.
4. Watch the float rise. The pump should start, pull the water down and shut off without your help.
5. Listen. Grinding, rattling or a long hum with no drop in the water level means trouble.
6. Go outside and find where the discharge pipe ends. Water should come out freely and drain away from the house.
7. If you have a battery backup, unplug the main pump and repeat the test so the backup has to do the work.

If the pump fails any step, replace or repair it before the next rain in the forecast.

What should you do if water is already in the basement?

Stay out of standing water until the electricity to the basement is off. If the breaker panel is in the wet area, or you would have to walk through water to reach it, call your utility or an electrician and wait.

Once the power is safe, find out where the water is coming from. A tripped breaker on the pump circuit may be all it is. If the water came up through a floor drain, treat it as contaminated water such as sewage and keep your hands and belongings out of it.

Take photos of the water line on the walls and of everything that got wet. Move boxes, rugs and furniture to a dry level if you can do it safely. Then call your insurance agent. Water that seeps in from the ground and water that backs up through a drain are often treated differently, so check your policy and ask what applies.

Why does drying speed matter so much?

Wet building materials do not wait. The EPA advises drying water-damaged areas and items within 24 to 48 hours to help prevent mold growth, and a basement is the slowest room in a house to dry by itself.

Carpet pad, the bottom edge of drywall, wood trim, wall insulation and the base plates of finished walls all soak up water from the floor. Fans from the garage move air around, though they do little for moisture trapped inside a wall or under flooring.

Professional drying uses extraction equipment to pull out standing water, then air movers and dehumidifiers sized to the space. Technicians take moisture readings in the walls and floor each day and keep the equipment running until the readings are back to normal. Materials soaked by contaminated water are removed instead of dried.

Call a Pro or Handle It Yourself?

Fine to handle yourself:

• Testing the sump pump with a bucket of water.
• Cleaning gutters and adding extensions so downspouts empty several feet from the house.
• Clearing leaves from window wells and from the end of the discharge pipe.
• Mopping up a small puddle of clean water on bare concrete and running a dehumidifier.
• Moving stored items onto shelves or into plastic bins.

Time to call a professional:

• Water covers a large part of the floor or has reached outlets, the furnace or the water heater.
• Carpet, drywall, paneling or insulation got wet in a finished basement.
• The water came up from a floor drain or has a sewer smell.
• The water sat for more than a day before you found it.
• You see staining or fuzzy growth on walls or stored items, or you notice a musty odor.
• The pump needs to be replaced or a battery backup installed, which is a job for a plumber.

Have water in your Lake in the Hills basement?

If fall rain has left water in your basement in Lake in the Hills or a nearby McHenry County town, contact ServiceMaster Kwik Restore to have it extracted, dried and checked for hidden moisture.