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adding a sump pump.

KCarGuy

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Feb 5, 2009
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50 miles outside Chicago, illinois
OK, this does have anything to do with Garage, It is my Basement.
Has anyone ever installed a sump pump where there never was one?

My Basement never, ever had a sump pump anywhere at all.
It has drain tiles that go around the house at 2 different levels, One is at chest height. But the drain has always been capped ever since I have owned my home.
The other is about knee height, and that has a pipe that goes right over to a floor drain...once it rains heavy, a good amount of water comes out.

We never had gotten any water in our basement until we got that "100 year rain" 12 years ago or so, at the same time they were redoing our streets and they raised the street in front of our house 8" from before...might mean nothing, but ever since then...a heavy rain, we get a small, but anoying amount of water downstairs.

The lowest spot, is right next to our Utility Sink in the laundry room...thats where I want to put One, then a second below the Tile drain, which is in a Utility room...next to a workbench.

Here is what I have learned on an episode of DYN...Cut-Drill-Bust a hole 3-4" larger than your sump pit, drill several 2" holes in the sump pit, wrap it with Lawn Fabric, dig out the dirt-Mud-stones, sink the sump pit (level with concrete floor), add a flat block or two on the bottom of the sump pit, surround outside with river rock, finish last 3-4" with concrete. set in sump...check valve and pipe with PVC.

Sound about right?
 
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KCarGuy

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50 miles outside Chicago, illinois
Man, busted the hole in the basement floor today.
Cant even count how many heavy 5 gallon buckets that I carried up.
5" of concrete, then there was another 5" of stone (where all the water was) and then all Clay. (****, that stuff is hard to dig and remove)
Ran my outlet...
Piped my PVC drain outside...
installed the Pit...
Set in the 1/2 horse Rigid Pump with a 1 way valve...
and fired it up!

the water level under the floor has dropped 3" so far.
I still need to fill around the pit with River rock and finish the concrete, but I want to be able to make adjustments after the next rain. which is coming Friday!

This work *****! but hopefully worth it!
 

larry4406

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Northern Virginia
Consider setting your pump such that the standing water level is just below the slab where it is benign to you. I have had homes where the water table was high, the pump was set too low in the crock, and the pump never stopped as the water table was too great.
 
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KCarGuy

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50 miles outside Chicago, illinois
Gotcha, I want to see where it sits on a regular basis. I'll measure that and set the Pump so that it will turn on if it goes any higher. So far we have gone a whopping 2 days without rain...April showers my ***!

Thanks, KC
 

Mike83

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Jan 24, 2008
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Location
Wisconsin
I have a sump pump for the basement but not for the small crawl space we have. I need to do the same project but as least I have no concrete to contend with! Just clay for me.

Last year I installed a french drain (basically perforated pipe covered in stone) along the side of the house with the crawlspace and that eliminated 90% of the water that would come under the foundation footing. Probably the best $200 and 2 days I ever spent on a project. A 1/3 hp pedestal pump will soon take care of the rest...
 
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KCarGuy

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50 miles outside Chicago, illinois
I have a neighbor that, because his property is at least a foot lower than everyone elses in the neighborhood, installed a sump pit in his back yard. 4 french drains all lead to the Pit and is pumped along his fench all the way to the front and out to the street.

Otherwise after a heavy rain, his back yard is 8"-12" of standing water for days and days! Works great!

I may do something like that on the North side of my house.
Next door neighbors property is 3 feet higher than mine. never had an issue until they installed a driveway that pitches away from his house...toward mine.
Thats alot of rain water to deal with.
 
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NOVA87Wrangler

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Northern Virginia
Glad it's working out for you. Not sure if Radon is an issue in your area, but if it is, you might want to add a 4" PVC pipe to the cap, vent it outside and then seal the cap real good.
 

NWOhioChevyGuy

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Feb 20, 2007
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Buckeye Hill (Morenci, MI)
I did the same project in my last house, it never had a sump just floor drains that didn't go anywhere. House was in heavy clay soils so if it got in it had no where to get out.

Hard work to add one but well worth the work.
 
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KCarGuy

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Radon is always a concern out here. My sister just bought her first house and I saw that on her sump pump. The village and inspector made the seller add that to the sump pump before the sale.

The lid is sealed tight with a gasket, screws and silicone. Then vented outside like you said. that was the first time I ever saw something like that. makes it tough to work on you pump if there ever is an issue. Always something isnt it?

Next thing ya know, beer...tobacco...and...*** is going to be bad for ya!
What? .....It is!....Damn it!
 
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KCarGuy

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50 miles outside Chicago, illinois
Well here is an update so far...rained on and off for the last 2 days. Nothing really heavy, but a decent rain.

last week I installed the Sump Pump, cleaned all the Gutters, tighted them all up, added extra down spouts, rerouted my down spouts to get the water about 10 feet farther away from the house...and to no surprise, no water at all down in my basement.

Not a real true test yet. need a good downpour, but extreemly happy so far!
 
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KCarGuy

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50 miles outside Chicago, illinois
Well, we have had Days of Rain, then 3-4 days without rain, then 2 days of downpours again...its been a crazy cycle!

Its been beautiful for the last 5 days...although several days of rain in the forecast coming up!

The sump pump has worked perfectly, it will even run here and there up to 3 days after the rain has stopped.
I guess, pushing all that water that slowly finds its way under the basement days later.

I really now wonder...Who the hell builds a house with a basement and doesnt install a sump pump? Stupid!

I am still thinking on putting another one in on the other side of the basement, with a battery backup and have it set just a little higher than the other. Keep one 110V and the other for backup or real bad crazy rainfall...or in the case of last year...big snow fall, the 24 hours later rain and a warm-up.
That created alot of issues for everyone out here.
 
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KCarGuy

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50 miles outside Chicago, illinois
Here we are...End of July and Broke records for the total amount of Railfall for the month of July.
Best part...Not any issues with water in my Basement since installing my Sump Pump.
I really feel bad for all the Families that have been flooded this year, some twice!

Without "flood Insurance"...Most people are simply screwed!
 

Gary S

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Bismarck, ND
Radon is always a concern out here. !


I fully believe that all this fear of radon is unwarranted, just like the hype about a bit of mercury or lead in the environment is just another scare tactic to make money for the scammers.

If you can't get enough radon from your basement, you can drive to Montana and pay money to sit in an old uranium mine and **** up their radon. It isn't free like the radon in your basement.

http://www.radonmine.com/

Cancer treatments using radiation are 1000x worse for you than the tiny amount of radon you can find in any basement.
 
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