How Many Wet Dry Vacs Does a House Need?

Three. The answer is three. Here's why...

Last June, two were a necessity because the water was coming in so fast that by the time one got emptied, the other was almost full. Brian and I were relieved we had two...for the hour or so we had them both going.

Today Brian ran to Home Depot to buy a third, one with a pump attachment. The flow of water coming into the basement/up through the floor was so constant that it again required the two of us and our two wet dry vacs to keep up with the water...all afternoon. At least with the pump we didn't have to constantly run the buckets out. So, there you go, we need three wet dry vacs to keep up with the water.

Today I felt like we were fighting a two front war. We are trying to beat the house at the water war by becoming allies with a basement company. Therefore we needed to take some time and prepare. Before this morning we were almost done. All we had to do was hang the plastic. However, our house didn't really allow that to happen because every time we turned around this afternoon water was coming in from a new place. A good 5 solid hours was spent trying to complete a task that should have only taken 30 minutes - tops.

I just keep reminding myself that at least we have a plan and are doing something about this. Tomorrow is the big day. Here are some shots from the weekend preparations:

Saturday, Brian worked very hard at removing the last of the drywall and cutting all the studs 8 inches off the floor. Since that needed to be done for the entire perimeter of the basement the closets also needed to be attacked. This closet was here when we moved in and nothing had ever been done with it. Therefore, we had no idea the shelves were secured by no less than 7 million nails. What were the previous owners storing in here? Gold bars?
Here is the wall of main concern. Yes, all the dark areas are water and those are sandbags. A feeble attempt to divert water under the stairs and to the sewer drain. It mostly worked...things could have been much worse.
Here is our bookshelf bench, all covered up
Just pretend E.T. and Elliot are at the end of all the plastic.

Every inch of the basement is impacted by this. Even the "new" room. If you look closely at the corner on the right, near the sump pump, you can see how dark our walls are. That's how high the water table is right now. While there is no water on the floor, there is in the cinder blocks.

Even the wall under the stairs had to be removed.