Have you installed a sump pump? (floor, roof, foundation, window)

[Braunwyn]

Hi there,

With the rain and flooding in my area my basement is taking in some water in the kitchen area (partially finished basement). The floor is cement, so that's not finished. I can see where the water is coming in and it's a corner between the floor and wall. I think this corner would be ideal for a sump pump. The main line is in an adjacent room and I don't think there is anything going on in that corner. I have someone coming over tomorrow to give me an estimate, but I suspect it's going to be pricey since a hole would need to be dug out. If he wants more than $4-500 I think I will try to tackle this myself. From what I see on the net the average price is around $1600 for this job.

Here are my concerns - getting through the concrete. I would need to rent a jackhammer. I've never used one before. Does this require a lot of strength? I could get my dh to do this part, but he's in mid-semester and I'd prefer not to bother him if at all possible. Next, going through the wall, which is finished (plaster), and the house/siding. I'm always concerned about running into electrical or something in the walls. My home has a lot of plaster and stud/electric finders don't always work well with these kinds of walls. There is a window so I could run the piping or hose through that.

Speaking of hoses, I saw a guy use a hose, attached to the appropriate valve to prevent back flow, and that looks ideal. What do you think?

Also, I hear there should be a dedicated circuit (120v) for a sump pump. There are a couple outlets near by and they are probably 2-4 ft above where the sump pump will be. Is that good enough?

Thanks in advance!

[harry chickpea]

You are gutsy. Good for you. I like the way you think.

Renting an electric jackhammer is fine, but if you are in a metro area you will have to get a contractor who can pull permits and have the inspections done. You are dealing with water and electricity and unknowns. I can pretty much tell that you COULD do the job on your own, but working without a permit and the inspections has a way of biting you hard down the road.

For right now, skip the major project. Make a temporary dam on top of the concrete floor using hydraulic cement, and place a PORTABLE pump with a float valve in that area. Run a garden hose out of the window. That will get you through short term and provide time to find a contractor and check references.

A word of warning - once spring comes, the good guys will be absolutely SWAMPED with work. The melting snow and any rain will create a lot of flooding where it hasn't been before. If you hire one, stipulate that there will be a bonus for getting the job COMPLETED within this work week, before the big melts hit. Otherwise, you might as well wait till summer and use the temporary fix. You may be able to help speed things up by pulling any permits yourself.

DO NOT under any circumstances use an unlicensed contractor who wants to work on the QT.

Oh yeah, almost forgot. You have no way of knowing if the problem is a little seepage or a high water table or an underground stream. Once you break the seal of the concrete with a jackhammer, you will probably know pretty quickly, and you might want to have a big trash pump on hand just in case. All the more reason to do a temp job and use a pro. Good luck.

[Braunwyn]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

You are gutsy. Good for you. I like the way you think.

Thanks lol. I'm all about doing my own home improvements. I just lack upper body strength. I really need to hit the gym. Eh, and I'm getting old too.

Renting an electric jackhammer is fine, but if you are in a metro area you will have to get a contractor who can pull permits and have the inspections done. You are dealing with water and electricity and unknowns. I can pretty much tell that you COULD do the job on your own, but working without a permit and the inspections has a way of biting you hard down the road.

Excellent. That's good to know. I wasn't aware that permits would be needed. I'll get on the horn with my town tomorrow. Really, thanks for that insight.

For right now, skip the major project. Make a temporary dam on top of the concrete floor using hydraulic cement, and place a PORTABLE pump with a float valve in that area. Run a garden hose out of the window. That will get you through short term and provide time to find a contractor and check references.

That's a reasonable idea, tho, I don't know if there's enough water to warrant it. Last summer we had torrential rains in MA. I've never seen anything like it in New England and we didn't get a drop of water in the basement...that I could see at least. This past flooding must have significantly raised the water table (I imagine).

A word of warning - once spring comes, the good guys will be absolutely SWAMPED with work. The melting snow and any rain will create a lot of flooding where it hasn't been before. If you hire one, stipulate that there will be a bonus for getting the job COMPLETED within this work week, before the big melts hit. Otherwise, you might as well wait till summer and use the temporary fix. You may be able to help speed things up by pulling any permits yourself.

That's a good point. I've come across similar with tree removal. I'm having it done now while things are a bit slow for people.

DO NOT under any circumstances use an unlicensed contractor who wants to work on the QT.

I'm not sure what QT is, but I do ask for license numbers and proof of insurance. I have enough problems without adding more!

Oh yeah, almost forgot. You have no way of knowing if the problem is a little seepage or a high water table or an underground stream. Once you break the seal of the concrete with a jackhammer, you will probably know pretty quickly, and you might want to have a big trash pump on hand just in case. All the more reason to do a temp job and use a pro. Good luck.

Another good point. If it's an underground stream I figure that would be affected by a rising water table. The temporay dam would be a good idea just for that protection. We have an aqua duct near by and my neighbor blames it's presence for flooding basements. He gets it worse than we do. Another point to note is that my basement has two levels. Where I have the water issues is a foot lower than the rest of the basement.

As far as using the pro goes, we'll see what he says tomorrow as far as price goes. I did ask him over the phone if he'd be willing just to help me get the hole in there. He didn't say anything, but we'll talk tomorrow.

Thanks again!

[akck]

In some locations, putting in a sump pump doesn't require a permit, but do call to check on it. One thing I know most municipalities do not permit, is tapping into you sewer system for draining.

I've had hydrostatic pressure force water right through the concrete in my basement as the water table rose with the heavy rainfall. After the second time it flooded in 10 years, I put in the sump pump myself (1st time was a 100 year storm). It wasn't difficult using a jackhammer, however it is heavy and if you can't lift it and put it where you want it, you should hire it out. Once in place the jackhammer does all the work and is relatively quick.

While just the sump pump may solve your problem, to do it right, you should break a section along your foundation and lay drain tile that goes to your sump. I just laid in a 10' section, figuring if we flooded again, I'd lay in the rest when everything is cleared out. So far, we haven't flooded again, but I don't know if it's because of the sump pump or that it hasn't rained as hard.

I don't know about running your piping above ground, since freezing can be an issue. I dug a pit and trench outside the wall and drilled a hole through the concrete wall. You'll need to rent a hammer drill and appropriate sized bit. I ran either 1-1/2" or 2" ABS pipe through the wall and then coupled it with 4" ABS pipe to a drain pit since I didn't daylight the pipe (I do have an overflow in case the pit fills up). The pit was lined with road fabric, then filled with concrete chunks and big rocks and covered with soil the the removed sod.

The back flow preventer is needed, otherwise you can get into a situation where your pump stops and the water flows back into the sump, causing the pump to start up again in a continuous cycle. Also, you should drill a tiny hole in the pipe, just below the back flow preventer (some units already have this), and a section of the pipe should be joined with something like a radiator hose for some flexibility.

Don't forget you'll need to repair the concrete. It's not that difficult to do and the project should be small enough that you can use premix. If you do lay drain tile, wrap the trench with road fabric and surround the pipe with rocks to keep it from filling with soil. I also used a hole drill bit to make 1-1/2" holes in the sump bucket to aid in directing water to the sump. I used heavy garden fabric around the bucket to keep out soil.

The project may sound daunting, but it took only 2 weekends to complete

[Braunwyn]

akck, thanks for such an informative post. This will be nice to have on hand.

I just finished talking with the plumber. He doesn't think a sump pump is necessary based on the information I gave him. It sounds like a crack in the foundation with rain water getting in. I didn't have a downward spout coming off my gutter in the corner where the water was getting in, but I did put one on last night. It's only a couple of feet long and I intend to make it longer. Also, since there's a bulk head in this area, it's probably contributing to the problem with rain water running off the gutters. I'm hoping that getting all the trees limbs hovering over my roof trimmed back and adding one more downward spout that it might fix the problem until I have the crack repaired.

Thanks to the both of you for all your help.

[Braunwyn]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

For right now, skip the major project. Make a temporary dam on top of the concrete floor using hydraulic cement, and place a PORTABLE pump with a float valve in that area. Run a garden hose out of the window. That will get you through short term and provide time to find a contractor and check references.

We're in another rain storm and I'm now onto this project. I have a bunch of cement bricks. Do you think that will do the trick if I seal them with the hydraulic cement?

[harry chickpea]

Probably. If you can find a small container of "Thoroseal" or other sealer you might have better luck.

For a small area that you don't care about, you can use the wax mix products like Thompsons. Shaving and melting a candle into kerosene or mineral spirits would create a paintable seal as well. You would do it OUTSIDE, away from ANYTHING flammable, heating up the water-filled bottom boiler of a double boiler on your stove until it boils, then taking that container of water outside, using the upper boiler OUTSIDE to melt the wax and then finally uncapping the kerosene or mineral spirits and adding it. That way the flammables are never near any excess heat or flame. Most any other method of making this is too dangerous to consider, and I would have baking soda and cold water on hand even with those precautions. Obviously, no smoking or sparks.