[Preston]

We have an unused stairwell underneath our deck which leads to an unused door. There is a drain at the bottom of the stairwell that is VVEEERRRYY slow which leads to water getting underneath the door and flooding the basement.

I have tried to unclog the drain but to no avail. I was wondering if either filling in the stairwell with dirt would work or should I try using sandbags.. which would slow things down and then try to seal the door from there.

Would this be effective or a waste of time?

 

[Russ]

I think you're wasting your time filling with dirt. You need to solve the drain problem.
When you say you tried to unclog, what exactly did you do?

 

[frugalwarrior2]

We have to get ours cleaned out once a year because of tree roots-Auger required,than put the acid dissolver in the drains/toilets. Could this be your prob??
Sand bagging doesn't sound like anything but a bandaid.