Service category
Sump Pump Services
Repair, installation, replacement and maintenance of sump pumps and battery backup systems that keep groundwater out of basements and crawl spaces.
- Licensed and insured
- Price agreed before work
- A plumber who works your area
A sump pump is the one piece of equipment in a house that is only ever tested by the emergency it exists for. Most failures are discovered during the storm, which is the argument for testing it on a dry day in autumn rather than finding out.
Test it on a dry day
A sump pump is only tested by the situation it exists to handle, which means most failures are discovered at the worst possible moment.
The test takes two minutes. Pour water into the pit until the float lifts. The pump should start promptly, clear the pit and stop cleanly without cycling on and off. Then check outside that water is actually coming out of the discharge, because a pump can run perfectly while a blocked or frozen line means nothing is leaving.
Autumn is the sensible time, before the wet season rather than during it.
The two gaps that catch people out
No backup. The storms that produce the most groundwater are the same storms that bring the power down. A mains-only pump is exactly as useful as the electricity supply during the event you bought it for, which is to say not at all. A battery backup is the single most common missing piece in an otherwise sound setup.
The discharge. Water has to leave far enough from the foundation that it does not soak straight back down to the pit, and it must not go into a sanitary sewer, which is prohibited in most places and contributes to the overflows cities spend heavily to prevent. In freezing climates the line also has to be arranged so it cannot ice up, because a pump running against a blocked discharge achieves nothing.
In this category
Sump Pump Services jobs we handle
Sump Pump Installation
Installing a sump pump and pit, including the discharge route, the check valve and the question of what happens when the power fails.
See what this coversSump Pump Repair
Repairing sump pumps that run constantly, will not start, or run without clearing the pit, before the next storm rather than during it.
See what this coversSump Pump Replacement
Replacing a failed or ageing sump pump, sized for how much water the pit actually takes rather than matching whatever was there before.
See what this coversBattery Backup Sump Pump
Fitting a backup pump that runs when the power fails or the primary cannot cope, since the storms that flood basements also cut the electricity.
See what this coversSump Pit Cleaning
Clearing silt, gravel and debris out of a sump pit, which is what wears impellers, jams float switches and shortens pump life.
See what this covers
Does this sound familiar?
Problems this covers
- A pump that runs constantly or cycles on and off rapidly
- A pump that does not start when the pit fills
- Water in the basement despite the pump appearing to run
- A pit that fills faster than the pump can clear it
- No backup for when the power fails during a storm
- A discharge line that freezes or empties too close to the foundation
Questions
Sump Pump Services questions
How do I test a sump pump?
Pour water into the pit until the float rises, and watch. The pump should start promptly, clear the pit and shut off cleanly without short-cycling. Then check outside that water is actually leaving the discharge point. Do this before the wet season rather than during it, because the failures people discover in a storm are almost always ones a two-minute test in autumn would have caught.
Why does my sump pump run constantly?
Either it is genuinely dealing with a lot of groundwater, or something is making it cycle when it should not. A check valve that has failed lets discharged water run straight back into the pit, so the pump lifts the same water repeatedly. A float switch that is snagged on the side of the pit can hold the pump on. A pit that is too small fills again immediately. Constant running wears the motor out early, so it is worth diagnosing rather than tolerating.
Do I need a battery backup?
If a wet basement would cause real damage, yes, because the storms that produce the most groundwater are the same storms that cut the power. A mains-powered pump is exactly as useful as the electricity supply during the event you bought it for. A battery backup runs the pump through an outage, and it is the single most common gap in an otherwise sound setup.
Where should the discharge line go?
Far enough from the foundation that the water does not simply soak back down to the pit, and never into a sanitary sewer, which is prohibited in most places and contributes to overflows. Where winters freeze, the line needs to be arranged so it cannot ice up and block, because a frozen discharge means the pump runs against a closed pipe. Getting the discharge wrong is what makes an otherwise healthy pump useless.
Get it fixed
Sump Pump Services, handled locally
Call with your ZIP code and what you are seeing. We route you to a licensed plumber in your area who does this work every week.
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- Price before work