Sump pump

[DavidS]

Thanks for all the replies. This has been very reassuring and certainly makes sense with the heavy rain this morning. We need to have a plumber come out to install our dishwasher when it comes in (I am currently the dishwasher), so I'll have him take a look at that, just to show me what I need to know and make sure everything is working right.

rgG - are you not on city/county sewage and do you have a septic tank? Where you live, I would be surprised if they had all those services when you moved in.

[rgG]

DavidS wrote:
rgG - are you not on city/county sewage and do you have a septic tank? Where you live, I would be surprised if they had all those services when you moved in.

We do have a septic system. There is no residential sewer near us and probably never will be. For that reason, all the lots have to be at least an acre, we have just under 4 acres, to support the septic tanks. The powers that be in what is now Milton are steadfastly against sewer service, so it will probably be that way for the foreseeable future.

[AAA]

This is what I put in.
http://www.basementwatchdog.com/

[iamrfixit]

As other posters have already told you the thump is the check valve closing when the pump shuts off and perfectly normal.

There is a tile installed around the perimeter of your house, right on the footing, usually a few inches below your basement floor. Water that builds up around your basement will flow into the tile and is routed one of two places. If your house is on a hill it might flow down the hill and out at ground level or into a storm sewer that is well below the level of the tile. If you have no hill to carry the water away it is usually routed into your house to your sump basin.

I know. You will say; but some homes are not on a hill yet have no sump pump. This is very bad. That means they are so old they have no tile or they have a tile routed into the sewer system. Guess what happens when the sewer is overwhelmed and floods? Go ahead ask..... unfortunately I know.......... twice. I have back-flow prevention now and a sump pump.

There is no such thing as a waterproof basement, all you can do is control the water that tries to get in. If you could make a completely water tight basement, the force of the water table would pop your house right out of the ground. Sound impossible..... remember the Titanic floated and it weighed thousands of tons. Water is incredibly powerful.

The more it rains, the more saturated the ground becomes, the more the pump will run. I live in a low area, depending on how saturated the ground is beforehand mine will run nearly continuous for hours after heavy rains of 3-4 inches in a short period. If it rains more than it can pump, if it fails or if the power fails your basement WILL flood and short of having more pumps, generators or other backup plans and being there to take care of them there is not much you can do.

Not meaning to scare you, but this is FACT not speculation. The water has to go somewhere. Just part of living with a sump pump. It all depends on the lay of the land and the type of soil and drainage the house is built on. There are just not enough hills for everyone to have one. When you have extreme weather conditions things happen.

With that said most people actually have very little problems but if you do it is rarely a small problem. We had a very wet spring in 2007 and early in June 07 we received 10 inches in about 12 hours and I only had minor flooding. My pump ran non stop for over 12 hours and could not keep up a couple times and the sump basin ran over. I stayed up all night and watched it and ran an extra pump a few times. I didn't get much sleep but avoided a messy cleanup and the associated damage.

Not something to fear just be mindful of it. Keep things in good working order and have a backup plan. I've seen plenty of basements made into living space and used for years, then poof gone in an instant. These are usually owned by the guy who says "Well my basement NEVER floods" It is a basement, under the right conditions it will flood.

[AAA]

My basement is always bone dry. 17 years. But still it's good to have battery backup.