Leak of Unknown Origin

Hi there, Thought maybe some of you here with old Maplewood houses could help us. We have a leak that appears to be coming from the ground, but there has not been any rain. It has soaked through our basement carpet in multiple spots. There is no leaky pipe and no rain, so what gives? Our water heater is fine... Is it possibly a pipe in the wall? How can we diagnose the problem? Is a plumber the right person to call? Any help is so, so appreciated. Happy Easter to us.... Thanks.

Go look at the water meter. Turn off all faucets etc. Is the little dial with a red arrow moving round and round? If so, there is a leak in the house's water line somewhere (after the meter.)

Or, it is seepage. The ground was saturated from the snow melt and rain. The wet you are seeing may have occurred in the past several weeks. We still have seepage into our french drain that our sump pump is pumping out.

It's quite a bit of water. Seems like quite a gush for seepage when it was just dry a bit earlier today. But maybe that happens?

Had you just run a load of laundry, the dishwasher or had someone been using the shower between the time the floor was dry and when you noticed the wetness? I'm wondering about the pipes from your main drain out to the outside pipes that take wastewater away.

Yes, I had just run a load of laundry!

Ah, if if was dry earlier, it doesn't sound like seepage. Did you try what kmk suggested?

Are your pipes exposed? If so, look around to see if one of them of them may have sprung a leak, particularly if they are not copper.

Or do you have a finished basement with drywall and hidden pipes to the upper floors? If the wet carpet is in one section of the basement, the leak may be in one of the pipes leading upstairs.

If there is that much wetness, calling a plumber may be your best solution. In the interim you could turn of the water.

Sashabro said:

Yes, I had just run a load of laundry!

Then, your solution may to get your drain cleared. We just had this happen to us, but it was very obvious--our washer shares a discharge pipe with our basement sink and it backed up into the sink and overflowed. Python Drain Cleaning (and MOL advertiser that many recommend) solved that for us.

http://www.pythondraincleaning.com/ There is a coupon on the web-site that can save you money.

Another possibility may be that there is an underground stream running under your house and a rise in the water table has resulted in water entering your basement through the floor. Even if the basement has been dry up to now, the stream could have changed course and be affecting you now.