Flooded basement.. Sump pump?

[djc225]

A house I'm renovating and is vacant recently had the basement flooded. Almost a foot of water in the basement. After pumping it out I found that the float got stuck on the Sump pump so it wasn't working.

Understandably nobody can see my basement, but does it sound reasonable that just a Sump pump failing could cause a foot of water in the basement? I would think that even with it failing the basement still wouldn't take on that much water but i don't know.

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[stoneam2006]

My parents house will get water if the ground is saturated. If the house was built on a wet spot I can see some water coming thru the floor if pump failed but a foot seems excessive

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[Lawdwaz]

How long was the pump tits up??

 

a foot is nothing, I've seen them filled to the top. 

[wooly]

Absolutely they can fill up fast due to a failing pump.

You may also want to check to make sure your pumps discharge line exiting the building is still tied into your storm drain.... or extended away from the foundation far enough.(depending on your set up)

If pipe is cracked, snapped off, or glue joint leaking outside the foundation wall, the water may not be making it into the storm drain and simply recirculating back into the basement. Good chance it's just the pump though.

[fasteddie]

I have had 3-4 inches of water in the basement when my sump pump failed . We have a Colonial . The next door neighbors have raised ranches with no problem . We have a silt that gets in the pump and ruins the impeller . I found that I should replace the sump pump at least every 4 years . Not a bad investment at $25 a year . The last time it overflowed , the rod for the float had rusted and broke so the float didn't work . 

[philoshop]

A foot (or more) is entirely possible. Water runs downhill, and without an escape route it will create a pond just above whatever choke point is holding it back. Think beaver dams. Definitely replace the pump. In the summer, when everything is dry, make sure the sump crock isn't filled with silt/mud that will clog and kill your new pump. Run a small snake or a 'jetter' though the discharge line, make sure your new pump is sitting on clean gravel in the crock, and that there's a clear downhill shot for the water. It's a PITA but it's better than mopping up your basement and dealing with mold, etc.

[Five Seasons]

i had a house in Alden that was on a river. My drain and sump ran constantly. Once I had a float stick on the older pump and caught it quickly but it didn't take long for the water to start to seep through the cracks. Bought a new pump with a backup battery system.

In addition we had root problems with our drain and outlet pipe. A plumber had to come in once a year and root it out, said really I needed to fix the issues with the tile around the house and install a new pvc pipe to keep the roots out or he would have to keep coming back. That basically my pump should hardly ever run if my tile wasn't infested with roots. That was 3 houses ago and somebody else problem now.

[Jeremy K]

Electric and jet sump here, not much water dumps into the sump but I'm too nervous about a flooded basement. 

[fasteddie]

Belo ... I had a root problem also . I rented a roto-rooter or what ever it is called from Secor Hardware aka Do It Best and it chomped the roots pretty good . I had to dig down almost 4 feet and replace a section of the pipe outside . I almost fell into the hole head first and would have if it hadn't been for a wide body . Some roots really messed up the pipe . 

You have to be careful when using one of those rooters and wear HEAVY gloves . A quick stop and the cable can wrap around your hand . 

[phade]

Flooded basement - been there done that. Sucks. Wish you the best of luck.

[The_Real_TCIII]

3 hours ago, Jeremy K said:

Electric and jet sump here, not much water dumps into the sump but I'm too nervous about a flooded basement. 

same here. we flooded after the October storm, not happening again

[Core]

As mentioned, no surprise about a foot.

I'm luckier than my immediate neighbors because the builder actually graded my house properly, so my sump hardly ever runs. Just two houses up the hill a bit a guy's sump ran constantly, entirely due to lazy grading and nothing else. Same for a lot of houses on my street.

BTW, get yourself one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Glentronics-Inc-BWD-HWA-Basement-Watchdog/dp/B000JOK11K/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1481910641&sr=8-3&keywords=water+alarm

I have one installed in my sump pit with the receiver just above where the water line goes. If I ever hear the alarm I know my sump has failed. I could then manually remove water until it's replaced. If I had a sump running more often I would probably get a second sump because even a battery backup won't work if the primary unit fails. My basement is finished so I cannot afford ever any flooding.

You can buy those alarms at home depot under a different name. I have one under my dish washer pan and also my washing machine I have sitting in a washing machine tub with one of these in it in case it ever leaks. Heck I have four of these around the house. don't have the fridge on one yet.  I bet that's where I'll get jammed up. 

[Nomad]

Highly recommend Liberty pumps, made in NY not far from Rochester . Great products and great customer service .

I run a Liberty sump with a Liberty water driven back up for power outages , or main pump failure .

You get what you pay for .

i also have alarms like Core, problem is you have to be home to hear it . Guy at work has an App for his, he also gets notified each time his garage door opens.

Edited December 16, 2016 by Larry302

[wolc123]

I would recommend having a backup, AC powered sump pump and all the required pipe fittings in case your primary pump fails again.   The main pump should be a good one, but the backup can be a cheap one.    I depended on a water backup pump during the "October storm" in WNY and ended up with over a foot of water in the basement.  Those things do not work if the city water pressure drops, as occurred during that storm (they simply add to the flooding in that case).   A loss in water pressure is very likely during a major storm (clue- all municipalities use electric powered pumps).   I also had a smaller flood a few years ago when the pressure switch on my main pump failed.  The battery-backup pump that I tried could not handle the volume.    

Now I have a good "5 year warranty" main pump, a cheap backup always ready to go, a 7500 watt generator, and no more flooded basements.  

[Nomad]

My water  back up ran for three days during a power outage , we were in Fla at the time .....  That's the issue with alarms and AC back ups, you have to be home not out hunting or away in vacation .

A reason to have someone check your house on the inside whe you go away, sump, furnace and so on .

With today's smart phones you can get notified of sump,pump failure on the beach 2,000 miles away and make a service call right away . Something I need to upgrade to .

With close to 30 years working as a FF I'll say this , prepair for water damage at some point. Sump failure , washer hose, bursts ( which is why it should be turned off when not in use ), frozen pipe, ground water seepage , water tank failure and on and on .

Half my basement is finished , but no carpet , tile . Nothing near the floor I don't mind loosing either. All storage items are in plastic totes and on shelving .

[growalot]

In Avon our basements in the entire neighborhood would flood..fire dept. Was out several Tim's a year..even in "dry" Times if the pump failed we would start filling up...we had 2 sump pumps set up...When we renovated concrete pads were built to raise every appliance..washer/ dry, freezers,furnace, hot water, and safe. We have no issues here but everything is still on blocks.

[GreeneHunter]

Unfortunately basements make excellent swimming pools if left unattended long enough .... I have a sump pump with an extra battery backed up sump pump just for that one time it fails ! Murphy's Law !

[Five Seasons]

On ‎12‎/‎16‎/‎2016 at 9:01 AM, fasteddie said:

Belo ... I had a root problem also . I rented a roto-rooter or what ever it is called from Secor Hardware aka Do It Best and it chomped the roots pretty good . I had to dig down almost 4 feet and replace a section of the pipe outside . I almost fell into the hole head first and would have if it hadn't been for a wide body . Some roots really messed up the pipe . 

You have to be careful when using one of those rooters and wear HEAVY gloves . A quick stop and the cable can wrap around your hand . 

our plumber charged $100. I felt like that was money well spent because when we noticed it clogging every fall it was typically after a heavy rain and no fun. I imagine replacing the pipe and some of the tile would have easily been a few grand. Like I said we moved, but I left the info with the buyer so they knew what to do... which is what the seller had done with us lol.