Sump Pumps

[happy2bretired]

Can someone tell me a little about how sump pumps work? I have a hole in my basement for one but have never bought one. Does it just sit in that hole or is there some installation that must also be done? There is an electrical outlet close by so I assume it's for the sump pump. The hole in my basement has never had any water standing in it. So, I am guessing that it would only turn on and work if there was water visable in that hole?? Where does the water go if it's pumping out water?? Don't laugh at me please. :

 

[mathjak107]

if the perimter of the interior of the basement is already channeled out and graded to allow any water to flow towards the pit than the sump pump has to have its outlet connected to a drain

 

[tryan]

You'll need to run a PVC pipe from the pump to the outside. Usually 1 1/2" PVC. Pitch the pipe down from the top of the basement ceiling to the out side so the water does not flow back to the hole. Also should line the hole with something to keep sand/gravel from interfereing with the pump (most hold a 5 gallon spackel bucket pretty well) cut the liner flush with the floor to allow water to run into the hole.

The parts list is pretty simple for the pipe (all 1 1/2" PVC): male/female threaded adapter (connects to the pump); a 90 degree bend; XX feet of pipe (depends on how long the run is; PVC cleaner and glue. Don't glue the threaded adapter; tephlon tape them instead.

Hope this helps.

 

[poboy]

I have a heavy duty sump pumb in the basement because water does collect from heavy rain. Always plugged in sitting in the sump hole. As water fills the sump, a float rises and turns the pump on then off as level goes down. Mine is connected to a discharge hose that goes out of basement and underground for about 75 feet. It does not sound as if you need a heavy duty pump and could get by with a pedestal pump if the need for one arose. Home Depot/Lowes.

 

[tryan]

Mine (2) have been running for 2 days due to this Noreaster ... put it on a timer (15 minute cycles) to cut the run time.

Couple more days and we'll be able to dry out. :

 

[happy2bretired]

Oh my...much more involved than I thought. I depend on plumbers, electricians, etc...I am not a DIY type. Who should I call? Plumber? Thank you all so much for the responses so far.

 

[poboy]

If you have never had water collect you could easily get by with a "just in case" small sump pump connected to a regular water hose that you could keep in the basement and use in event of emergency. I have a smaller pump set up this way in case big boy pump fails. Simply carry end of the hose to the outside if the need arises.

http://tinyurl.com/2nkphl $67.00 small pump.

Edit: seach sump pumps. Hope this helps.

 

[SteveR]

Oh my...much more involved than I thought. I depend on plumbers, electricians, etc...I am not a DIY type. Who should I call? Plumber? Thank you all so much for the responses so far.

Depends on the local "trades" in your area. Some unions won't allow each other to do work on each others stuff...plumbers are not allowed to do electical...even if it means plugging in a sump pump; likewise, electricians are not allowed to cut and join pipes.

You might try to find a Handy Man service; these guys can do it all without labor union restrictions and are usually cheaper too.

We had a sump in our house in N. Illinois where the house was very near an underground water flow so the pump ran a lot...sometimes cycled every 20 seconds during a heavy rain. I wore out 3 pumps in 10 years. I also had a backup pump I installed for power outages. It got a fair amount of use and I was very very glad I installed it. It saved our basement from flooding a number of times and I checked it every month.

Glad to be living in a area where sump pumps are not required. The soil is very sandy so the water just flows away insead of floating the house.

Good luck.

 

[tryan]

You don't need an electrician since an outlet is near by and the pumps come with a plug. Any plumber or handy man can handle this. Just make sure the long run is sloped downward and outside. One of mine is not (I didn't install it!) and the pump will run continously - if allowed - since the water in the line is enough to fill the bucket.

 

[happy2bretired]

Thank you everyone. It is not easy to figure out the behind the scene workings of a house if you always depended on someone else in the past. Yeah for this forum!!

 

[FinanceDude]

I had a submersible installed 2 years ago, which replaced the "non-submersible" that was original.........

The brand name is Ridgid, if that helps...........

 

[riskadverse]

Since you've never had water in the pit, I would just go buy a small sump pump that uses a garden hose as an outlet. I have one from Home Depot. I think the cost was about $60 and you wont need any plumbers or electricians to install it provided you can find a drain or hole to route the hose to the outside.

 

[calmloki]

You don't need an electrician since an outlet is near by and the pumps come with a plug. Any plumber or handy man can handle this. Just make sure the long run is sloped downward and outside. One of mine is not (I didn't install it!) and the pump will run continously - if allowed - since the water in the line is enough to fill the bucket.

Here in sogOregon i finally wised up and started putting in backflow preventors (just a one-way flapper valve) close to the pump. Cut way down on the running, as before the pump would run, pump out the small pit, shut off, and refill the pit as the water in the line all ran back in. Think the plastic flapper vales were like $5.

 

[OAG]

Lowe's carries them and, in our area, has them assembled so that you get an idea on how they install. They all come with instructions to my knowledge. In our case we have 2 systems (sump pumps) in the same hole one runs purely off of electricity and one of them is connected to a battery backup system that runs off of electricity but switches over to battery if there is a power interruption, like a standby power source on a computer system operates. The battery is very heavy duty (the ones I saw at Lowe's were in the $100-135 range). System is run to the outside of the house and has anti-back-flow devices to prevent the constant running problems. If you are in a area that freezes you may have to put a plug on the outside run (above ground) and when it does freeze remove the plug so that any water will get discharged. If you do not the system will "choke" and the water may overflow the basement like you did not even have a sump pump. I know of two homes in which the owner's "forgot" to open the above ground plugs and had flooded basements this year. I am in Central Ohio BTW.

 

[happy2bretired]

I can see from the many replies that I am very fortunate not to have water problems. (knock on wood)

 

[SteveR]

I can see from the many replies that I am very fortunate not to have water problems. (knock on wood)

Yep!

Imagine for a moment going to the basement late at night looking for that special tool that was supposed to be in the tool box. As you decend the stairs you step in water and suddenly realize the basement is now an indoor pool. Thank the Stars this did not happen to me but did happen to my next door neighbor. He frantically asked for help as we cobbled together various pumps, generators and hoses to pump out the basement to prevent further damage. It was an all night affair but we saved stuff that was above waist level. He later stated that his sump pump was plugged....by a toad that had gotten into the sump system through a drain in a windo well. It froze up the impeller and burned out the motor. I guess the pump was very old at that point and the toad was the last straw for the old pump. Of course he had no backup system which would have cost him a couple hundred $$ instead of losing several thousand $$$ in damaged items from the flood.

 

[Khan]

What is a good backup for a sump pump?

Some sort of battery?

 

[calmloki]

We had a tenant call about standing water in the basement. Went into General Quarters mode and boogied over there with implements of disaster repair. Problem turned out to be that she had unplugged this thing that kept making a running noise every 10 minutes or so. It was pointed out to her that pumps do make a running noise when , uhhhm, running. Splashed over and plugged in the pump. Which worked well.

 

[OAG]

Khan: see my post a few back about a battery backed up sump pump.

 

[Khan]

Khan: see my post a few back about a battery backed up sump pump.

Doh!

 

[dumpster56]

Crawl space under my new place. Nothing down there but concrete brick cinderblocks and dirt with big plastic sheets covering the dirt.

 

[janeeyre]

I live 10 miles west of Phila and my sump pump has been running since Saturday and it is having a difficult time keeping up with the water. In fact, we also have a portable utility pump running to support the sump pump ---Jeez

We also have a beach house in Cape May NJ and I have no idea what is going on there.

 

[jazz4cash]

What is a good backup for a sump pump?

Some sort of battery?

Backup pump powered by household water pressure..........
http://www.do-it-yourself-pumps.com/homeguard.htm

 

[Telly]

Think very very carefully before purchasing and installing a water-powered backup sump pump. Every one I have seen uses the venturi effect. When the float gets up to the start level, a valve opens, shooting city water through a venturi, and out through the discharge hose. The flow through the venturi creates the suction that pulls up the sump water, and throws it out the discharge hose too. So the discharge water is about 50% sump water and 50% city supply water. This is going to put a lot of water outside!

But that's not the real problem! If the discharge hose gets plugged or frozen, or the check valve in the discharge path gets stuck or whatever, ALL the city water will end up getting dumped into the sump pit! And because the float is up, calling for it to run, it will continue to dump city water into your basement. So not only is it not pumping rain water out, it's filling your basement with city water! And it ain't never gonna stop.

I don't have to worry about basements any more, but when I did, besides the submersible AC operated pump, I used a 12 volt battery powered backup pump. It had a circuit board that recharged the battery when needed. I also modified a set of car jumper cables adding on some 12 gauge wire, so if AC power was out a long while, I could drive a car up near and run the pump off of the car battery. Plan was to let the hood down on a piece of 2x4 to leave a space for cable to exit from underhood. Would run car for a while before it's battery would get too far down.

 

[Outtahere]

My house has always had water in the basement, I remember when I was a kid (5 or 6 years old) my granddad putting on his boots to wade through 2 feet of water in the cellar to stoke the coal furnace. It was a creepy feeling looking down there seeing all the water, it was that way every spring until the water table went down. Later when sump pumps were available and didn't cost an arm and a leg my dad set up the system and we've been water free ever since.

Our backup to the sump pump is to have a spare pump and a generator. The generator came in handy yesterday, we were without power from 10am to 11pm last night. Our generator powered our sump as well as two neighbors , my dad had the two neighbors on the other side of him hooked to his. We all make it through the outage with dry cellars. One neighbor across the street had a truck with an outlet and ran that all afternoon hooked to his sump.

It was nice when power was restored.