Needed - Sump and sump pump installation

DraKhen99 · Aug 3, 2015

Good morning!

My wife and I would like a licensed, bonded and insured contractor to come to our house and install a sump and sump pump in our basement.

Last year, with the heavy April rains, we had water percolating up through the concrete floor! Also, our dehumidifier needs emptying at least once a day this time of year, and my knees aren't what they used to be.

I said I'd get around to it, but don't have the expertise needed to do a good job.

I would like the whole job done, and am willing to assist to get it done faster/cheaper.

I figured that the MDS community would be a good place to look!

Thanks,

-John

Jim12 · Aug 3, 2015

First, I'd find out what's causing that hydraulic pressure under your house that just appeared last year.

Adequate and regularly- cleaned gutters with downspouts that run well away from the house, and adequate grade (slope) of the terrain around your foundation to keep water flowing away from the house are essential and usually all that's needed. Look for settlement of backfill, holes, depressions, old tree stumps, etc. near the house that may have started an underground channel for rainwater. Clean fill dirt (not topsoil to grade, fill holes/depressions) is cheap, and fixes a lot of these problems. From experience.

DraKhen99 · Aug 3, 2015

Jim12 said:
First, I'd find out what's causing that hydraulic pressure under your house that just appeared last year.

Adequate and regularly- cleaned gutters with downspouts that run well away from the house, and adequate grade (slope) of the terrain around your foundation to keep water flowing away from the house are essential and usually all that's needed. Look for settlement of backfill, holes, depressions, old tree stumps, etc. near the house that may have started an underground channel for rainwater. Clean fill dirt (not topsoil to grade, fill holes/depressions) is cheap, and fixes a lot of these problems. From experience.

The cause was one of those 50-year storms that dumped 6" of rain water in 3 days. I regularly clean my gutters, have downspouts extended away from the house. The slope is downward from front to back.

The water table just got so high it pushed up under the house, starting in the back of the house. It subsided about 18 hours after I noticed it (coincidentally, I went into the basement to get my ladder to go up in the attic and check on a couple of small leaks I knew about - never made it up there! There was 8" of water in the basement at that time).

Other than that one time (granted, we've only been in the house since 2011), I haven't seen so much as a drop of water on the floor down there.

We know the basement gets humid, so we have a 60qt dehumidifier down there that runs mostly consistent, and does a good job of keeping the RH down.

I just want a sump and pump so that I don't have to carry the water up the stairs (bad knees) and dump it out. An automatic sump pump would be nice to do that job for me

Thanks,

-John

govwontletmebuycoolguns · Aug 4, 2015

Sump and sump pump are installed as part of a larger system (i.e. french drain). A hole in the corner of the basement with a pump in it won't keep you dry if there's not an unobstructed drainage path to funnel water to it (other than across your basement floor).

May want to consider a groundwater interceptor at this point, depending on the topology of your property.

DraKhen99 · Aug 4, 2015

I was planning on making the hole around the sump a bit bigger and filling in with gravel, to give the ground water an easy path, into the sump. Then, pump it out. At least with a sump and pump, I won't have to lug the water bucket up the stairs every day.

John

Jim12 · Aug 4, 2015

Instead of breaking through your concrete slab, digging and installing a sump and pump that's needed only once every 50 years, why not set up the dehumidifier to empty into a container (e,g. a bucket) that sits on the existing floor, with a $50 submersible pump sitting in that container, pumping the dehumidifier discharge water to wherever you would have run the sump pump discharge?

MEGALUG · Aug 4, 2015

Where are you located?

rseymorejr · Aug 5, 2015

DraKhen99 said:
I would like the whole job done, and am willing to assist to get it done faster/cheaper.

Didn't you ever see a sign in a shop that said:

Labor Rates
$20 per hour
$30 per hour, if you watch
$40 per hour, if you help

DadOSix · Aug 5, 2015

i have a dehumidifier in my crawlspace. My hvac guy recommended a condensate pump. We rigged the condensate pump to the side of the dehumdifier. The dehumdfier water drains into the condensate unit. When it fills up, a float turns on the pump and it empties into the drain system in the laundry area of the basement.

about a hundred bucks and you have no more water to tote and dont have to bust up the floor either to make a sump.

Jaybeez · Aug 5, 2015

DraKhen99 said:
Good morning!

My wife and I would like a licensed, bonded and insured contractor to come to our house and install a sump and sump pump in our basement.

Last year, with the heavy April rains, we had water percolating up through the concrete floor! Also, our dehumidifier needs emptying at least once a day this time of year, and my knees aren't what they used to be.

I said I'd get around to it, but don't have the expertise needed to do a good job.

I would like the whole job done, and am willing to assist to get it done faster/cheaper.

I figured that the MDS community would be a good place to look!

Thanks,

-John

1.where in md do you live?
2. how old is your home?
3. you want licensed and insured. bonded isnt necessary in md unless the contractor has virtually no personal assets, and the bond wouldn't apply to the homeowner but only the MHIC. The MHIC guarantee fund serves as the homeowner's bond, and any licensed contractor is is covered under that. the MHIC warns homeowners that anyine advertising as licensed and insured AND BONDED likely isnt any of those things.

DraKhen99 · Aug 5, 2015

I am in Montgomery County.

The house was built in 1957.

This is a split level with a sub basement (which is where the dehumidifier is and the flooding took place).

There is no laundry area there (that's one level up), so nowhere currently to run the pump to (except out a window, if I open it).

Thanks,

-John

Jaybeez · Aug 5, 2015

something outside has changed if the home was built in 57 and has just started leaking. a pump will be a band aid at best. you need to find the overflowing gutter, or sinking concrete pad, or cracked concrete stem wall, and fix that.

That's my professional opinion.

DraKhen99 · Aug 6, 2015

Jaybeez said:
something outside has changed if the home was built in 57 and has just started leaking. a pump will be a band aid at best. you need to find the overflowing gutter, or sinking concrete pad, or cracked concrete stem wall, and fix that.

That's my professional opinion.

I spoke to my neighbors, who have been there since the houses were built, and found out that these storms come through and the water table does this. It's not a common thing, but it does happen. This leads me to believe that it's a rare occurrence and nothing to really worry about. A sump and pump would be a great addition.

Now, if you want to come take a look anyway, PM me and we can set something up.

Thanks,

-John

Needed - Sump and sump pump installation

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

DraKhen99

Professional Heckler

Jim12

Let Freedom Ring

DraKhen99

Professional Heckler

govwontletmebuycoolguns

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

DraKhen99

Professional Heckler

Jim12

Let Freedom Ring

MEGALUG

Active Member

rseymorejr

Ultimate Member

DadOSix

Ultimate Member

Jaybeez

Ultimate Member

DraKhen99

Professional Heckler

Jaybeez

Ultimate Member

DraKhen99

Professional Heckler

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Latest threads

Forum statistics

Share this page