Water coming up a floor drain in a Garden City basement raises one question before any other: did the city's sewer fail, or the line that runs from your house to it? The answer decides who pays. Here is what Garden City asks residents to do, in order, and what to do for yourself while you wait.
Call Public Service, or the police after hours
Report the backup to the city's Department of Public Service at 734-793-1800 as soon as you see it. For a sewer backup after hours, the city sends residents to the police non-emergency line at 734-793-1730 (City of Garden City, Flood Information).
Make the call the day you find the water, even if you suspect your own pipe. It puts the backup on the city's record on the date it happened, and that date matters for the next step. Write down who you spoke to and what time.
File the written claim within 45 days
Garden City says written claims for a sewer or storm water backup must be filed within 45 days of discovering the overflow, and that failing to give the required notice will prevent recovery of damages. The city asks you to return its notice of claim form to the City Clerk's Office. You can email it to [email protected], use the drop box at City Hall, or bring it in person. If you have questions about the form, the Clerk-Treasurer's line is 734-793-1620 (City of Garden City, Flood Information).
The 45 days is not a Garden City rule. It comes from state law, which says a claimant is not entitled to compensation unless the city is notified in writing within 45 days after the damage was discovered. The same law limits what the notice must contain to your name, address, and telephone number, the address of the damaged property, the date you discovered the damage, and a brief description of what happened. It also says you cannot unreasonably refuse to let the city inspect the property (Michigan law on sewage backup claims, MCL 691.1419).
Count from the day you found the water, not the day a plumber told you the cause. Filing on time does not mean getting paid, but filing late almost certainly means not getting paid. Send it early.
Photograph everything, but keep it out of the envelope
Take photos or video of the drain, the waterline on the walls, and every damaged item while it is still where it landed. Garden City tells residents to keep copies of this documentation but not to attach it to the claim form, because the city or your insurer may ask for it later (City of Garden City, Flood Information). Add the date and hour you found the water, roughly how deep it got, and every receipt for pumping, hauling, and replacement. A folder on your phone is enough.
Report the loss to your insurance company at the same time you file with the city. The two are separate tracks and neither one waits for the other.
Dry it out, and decide what has to go
The EPA advises drying water-damaged areas and items within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold growth, and notes that porous materials such as carpet may have to be thrown away if they become moldy (EPA, A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture and Your Home). Sewage water raises the stakes on anything soft that sat in it. Photograph first, then haul it out.
Whose pipe was it
If a camera inspection shows the public sewer working and the blockage in your own lead, the repair and the cleanup are yours. If the public system failed, your written notice is what keeps a claim alive. Either way, pull out your homeowners policy the same week. Many policies exclude sewer backup unless you added a water backup endorsement, and that endorsement may be the only coverage you have for the own-line case.
For context on the neighborhood, Garden City scores 73 on the Basement Risk Index, 21st of 116 metro communities, with about 69 percent of homes built before 1960 and a median year built of 1956. That score is modeled from housing data, not measured house by house, and it says nothing about the sewer under your particular street. It does say that most of the housing here is old enough that a drain, a lateral, or a foundation wall has had decades to fail.
Keeping it from happening twice
A backwater valve on the sewer line is the fix aimed at backups specifically, and FEMA lists a sewer backflow valve among the steps worth taking (FEMA, Protect Your Property From Flooding). As a planning range, a retrofit runs $1,500 to $3,500. If your trouble is seepage and not sewage, start cheaper. Clearing gutters, extending downspouts, and regrading so the yard slopes away from the house run $0 to $200 and are the first things to try.
It helps to test a wet basement against its source before paying for a fix. A drain that fills during a storm points at the sewer. A damp wall after a long rain points at the yard. We do not know which one you have, and a plumber with a camera can tell you in an afternoon.
Sources reviewed
Primary sources checked October 2026:
- City of Garden City, Flood Information, gardencitymi.org.
- Michigan law on sewage backup claims, MCL 691.1419, legislature.mi.gov.
- EPA, A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture and Your Home, epa.gov.
- FEMA, Protect Your Property From Flooding, fema.gov.