Sump Pump help

Any basement water professionals out there? I have a sump pump that runs constantly, even now in January it runs every 40 seconds. In the spring it runs non stop or every 10 seconds. I don’t believe it is a grade issue but rather a ground water issue. I have been talking to the developer and builder and they have agreed to help mitigate the problem. We just don’t know how. So the question is, how do I get ground water out and away from under my house? Any IDO excavaters looking for work in the spring because I think this may require some digging!!

With all the wet weather the water table is pretty high. A spring may have opened up near your foundation. That could be the area of least resistance, hence water will flow there 1st. If in a city it could be a broken water main, if rural just a leaking pipe.

Mine has also been running more frequently that winters past. When we got the rain right before the New Year it was again cycling about every 30 seconds for about 2-3 days until the cold weather hit. Once the cold settled in now, it is down to about 7-10 minute cycle. I have a large hill behind my house and I also believe with all the water last fall and then a thick layer of snow that the frost may have only beenin the gound say 12″ or so, who know for sure.

Best of luck with your project. I too wish I lived on top of a hill and not a the bottom of one – next time!

Do you guys that have pumps that run all the time have back up systems or alarms for when the pumps fail? If nothing else I would have a back up pump on hand for a easy change out. There are also simple water alarms on the market now that are very similar to smoke detectors. They sit on the floor and go off at the slightest detection of moister. For around $20 they are pretty cheep.

I have never drained water in the winter.. but I have drained water every day this winter.. the water table is VERY HIGH… VERY VERY HIGH..

have had the same problem –found that when basement at my house was dug they cut a field tile line And it was running up against the foundation–good luck

I had this problem on a new home that I build last year. It was a wet hole when we dug it water with seeping out of the ground. This house was not a walk out basement. The standard is tile or form a drain around the footings to a sump pump pit in the basement. I added a second tile thru the basement 6″ deeper than the bottom of the footings and ran it to the storm sewer out front of the house (Check with your local building inspector before just running something to the storm sewer) so it would drain below the frost and keep the basement dry. This could still be acomplished on a finished home by digging along the house and getting a drain tile below the footing tile and running it to a drain tile deeper on the property or daylight Good luck.

Chad

If it’s a water table problem then your options my be slim. If it’ run of then a lot can be done. Do you have down spouts and are they lean? Make sure that all your roof water is getting far enough away from the house. This spring ,after the thaw and things dry out, ad some soil around the house. You should have a slope away from the foundation for at least 3-4′. Until you fix the problem I’d invest in a battery back-up for the pump. You don’t want to loose electricity.

Carphunter is 100% correct in all he said.We do this kind of work everyday and after doing the tile and water out to the storm drain you will find no more problems.That is if the problem is natural water and not a broken water line somewheres, maybe your neighbors or yours.But this year the water table here in NY is very high also and this week we are doing 3 of these jobs to save a Customers septic bed. Good Luck.

Either you have a ton of water or something wrong.

Maybe the check valve is messed up so it’s pumping the same water over and over or it isn’t flushing it far enough from the house or some other error. Restarting the motor over and over is probably not real good for it.

If you really have that much water, I’d build a bigger sump. It’d cycle less and you could fit two pumps.

I ran into a lady this summer than had a problem like that. Their builder plumbed the sump into a county drainage line that got plugged up downhill from their house. Not real cool to have a field tile draining into your basement.

Mine has been running lately since we got that rain too, it has NEVER run in past winters, as I sit here on the computer it is running about every 7-10 minutes and has been for the last week. When I have been outside my nieghbors is running as well about the same frequency.