Why you Need a Sump Pump

4/16/2018 (Permalink)

Have you ever had water in your basement or crawl space? Some basements and crawl spaces may get water inside of them after a heavy rain, quick thaw, or a long rainy season. Installing a sump pump in these areas can help keep these spaces dry and stop your property and contents from sustaining water damage. You can choose to install a sump pump yourself of have a plumber come and put it in for you. Sump pumps can be purchased from your local hardware store and usually require approximately a 2 foot by 18 inch hole to set in. Water flows into the hole and immediately gets pumped out through a pipe that leads away from your home.

When you have the sump pump installed, somethings you should consider is:

• How will the sump pump run if the power goes out? Generally the sump pump is plugged in, and therefore would not work if there was no power going to the home. Storms often trigger the power to turn off, so an alternate power source is important. You could keep a generator handy to hook up if the power were to go out. Another option would be to have a back up battery that would automatically turn on if the power went out. The battery would need to be able to withstand long periods of inactivity.
• What if my sump pump stops working? We often recommend to homeowners to have a back up sump pump handy and ready for use should yours stop working. It can take a lot of time to get a plumber out to the house to have them fix the sump pump, in this case, you would want to be able to hook up an alternate sump pump in the mean time to stop the sump pump pit to overflow causing water damage to your home.