Sump Pump Failures and How to Avoid Them

Every time a major downpour hits an area, countless stories of grief are heard from homeowners who have gambled with a substandard sump pump installation in their basement. During the worst storms, plumbers can work around the clock to pump water from foundations and basements. Homeowners pay whatever is necessary to help minimize the already extensive damage done to their home and personal belongings. Despite these stories, sump pumps are better and more reliable than ever. But not all sump pumps are created equal, and low-quality systems that were unreliable years ago are still available and still unreliable today. The most common failures can be narrowed down to three main causes.

Power outages

If you have a sump pump installed and the power goes out, you may no longer have a working system. This is true for the big power outages common in big rain storms, when a fuse blows, or even when it’s accidentally tripped. If you have a generator to back up your sump pump when it loses power, ask yourself these questions:

  1. Will I always be home during a power outage to start the generator?
  2. How will I know if the sump pump just pulled out? (Usually you will know when the basement is flooded.)
  3. Will my generator have enough power to keep it running until the power comes back on?

Unless you have a good answer to all three, consider adding a battery backup sump pump system to your basement waterproofing solution. A good battery backup system should be able to pump at least 7,000 gallons of water out of your basement on a single charge and is set to turn on automatically if the main pump loses power for any reason.

sump pump failure

Whether you have a plastic sump pump installed in your basement, a DIY kit, or an inexpensive one installed by a plumber, it’s a matter of time before it fails. Plastic pumps often fail due to mechanical failure, but any sump pump installed directly into a sump pit without a strong, well-constructed sump liner and bracket will eventually clog the pump due to dirt and debris from the pit that enter.

If you install a backup sump pump, you can be sure that when there is a mechanical failure or the sump pump becomes clogged, you have a second pump to keep your basement dry. Considering the cost of pumping out a basement and the damaged personal belongings you have when there is a fault and the basement leaks, this is a small investment. Even a battery backup can offer temporary relief from a pump failure until a new main sump pump can be installed or the existing one repaired.

Overwhelmed sump pumps

In a torrential downpour, your system can be overwhelmed by large volumes of base water. In these cases, a single pump can become overloaded and the basement can flood. Keep your base protected by installing a reliable backup. In the event of torrential rain, both pumps can work to protect your home and keep your basement dry. If you also have a battery backup, it can turn on if one pump fails, and will be there to compensate if both are overwhelmed.

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