Check your sump pumps!!!

[keepngoal]

With all this rain, snow and melting snow moving from ground to foundations..... check your sump pump wells. Wife caught it early, as the utility room was showing standing water near the drain and well. the sump pump hose was kinked and not moving water out of the well.

Very minor mess, and I am glad she noticed it.

It took the pump 5 minutes to turn off as there was so much water filling it up. I have never seen this much water run into the well in this short of time.

So save yourself a major problem.. and check on your well, sump pump and hose to the drains.

whew.

-keep

 

[isuno1fan]

Smart to check your pump every year. Fill a 5 gallon bucket up and dump it in there and make sure it kicks on. Small task that can save you a big headache down the road.

 

[brianhos]

I have to do that once a year, because mine never ever turns on. I looked last year, and it was just filled with cobwebs.

 

[ISUKyro]

You guys can send some rain down here - we're getting pretty dry.

 

[cyclonedave25]

You guys can send some rain down here - we're getting pretty dry.

We'll trade you for some warmer weather. :wink:

 

[whirlybirds]

i just found out my basement is flooding this morning

 

[cyclonedave25]

i just found out my basement is flooding this morning

So, this thread should have been started yesterday.... :wideeyed:
Sorry to hear that, though.

 

[whirlybirds]

i rent so its not really my problem. there isnt much stuff down there that can be considered valuable. i look at it as a way to get my landlord to clean my basement for free :smile:

 

[Jer]

We had two leaks in our roof today and then a puddle of water in the basement. I think we narrowed down the water in the basement (about a square foot around) to it coming up through the concrete slab since there is a very small crack right in that spot. We narrowed down the roof leak to where two slants congress. The roof is only two years old so that wasn't real welcome.

 

[alaskaguy]

i rent so its not really my problem.

Do you worry about mold?

 

[zach]

With all this rain, snow and melting snow moving from ground to foundations..... check your sump pump wells. Wife caught it early, as the utility room was showing standing water near the drain and well. the sump pump hose was kinked and not moving water out of the well.

Very minor mess, and I am glad she noticed it.

It took the pump 5 minutes to turn off as there was so much water filling it up. I have never seen this much water run into the well in this short of time.

So save yourself a major problem.. and check on your well, sump pump and hose to the drains.

whew.

-keep

Glad you caught it in time and good post!
You are the second person that I have heard today with the same issue.

Z

 

[Balrog]

I would also like to suggest to you that you get a back-up sump that runs off a battery. Last year, when we had that 6" rain in two hours, my sump pump went out.
$10,000.00 damage later, I realized that I could have been checking my sump on a monthly basis, and it would not have been much help, especially if the power goes out, as is often the case. Also, the amount of money you are reimbursed for the damage, will not cover the damages unless you do most of the cleanup and drywall work yourself.
I apologize for not being able to supply a link, but I understand that there are sites that offer piggyback sumps and/or the information needed to explain how to wire an auxillary sump from a battery supply.
I will be doing this before the month is out.
Thank you for the reminder.

 

[ISUKyro]

We'll trade you for some warmer weather. :wink:

Sounds fair to me, my ac has been on for most of the day. Got into the 80s and I lost about 5 trees that were behind my apartment from hurricane Ike, so the sun is coming right in.

 

[drmwevr08]

Luckily they did a good enough job with my system that when the pump craps out the water standing in the well is enough to hold the water back in the lines. Now, its not good in that the water isnt getting out of the way but the basement stays dry. All working well though this year. Need to get the thing piped outside though this year. Presently its improperly draining back to the floor drain.

 

[BCforISU]

about $300 for a battery back-up, put one in last fall, ran for 6 hours when the power went out last year. They are worth every penny!

 

[clones_jer]

Mines running like crazy ... probably about every 5 mins.

Do you just plumb the battery backups into the same line with a check valve? and is the battery backup normally a "out of the pit" style? I don't know if there is room in my pit for two submersible types.

I actually worry more about the existing one crapping out verses power outages ... they only have so many cycles in them I'd imagine. Sometimes the water is a little cloudy so I assume its moving some silt and sand as well as water.

 

[Cydkar]

I consider the fear of mold overstated. There is mold in nearly every house that's over a few years old.

 

[cardinalNgold]

A few years ago my dads crapped out on him during a big storm, luckily we caught it before there was any major damage, but he wasn't the one that was baling water into the basement floor drain for an hour while he quick got a new one.:no:

 

[PolkCityClone]

Mines running like crazy ... probably about every 5 mins.

Do you just plumb the battery backups into the same line with a check valve? and is the battery backup normally a "out of the pit" style? I don't know if there is room in my pit for two submersible types.

I actually worry more about the existing one crapping out verses power outages ... they only have so many cycles in them I'd imagine. Sometimes the water is a little cloudy so I assume its moving some silt and sand as well as water.

I added mine by putting a Y joint and check valve and the pump sits in the pit above the electric one. Tied the second pipe into the main one going out the side of the house.

 

[cycloneworld]

Funny this should be posted...I went down to the basement to do laundry last night and the sump pump was not working and there was water in about 15% of the basement. It could have been much, much worse if I did't catch it until later. I installed a new pump and it ran almost constantly for the next hour or 2.