Concrete/sump pump pit

squisher

THE CALM ONE!!!!
Joined
Sep 25, 2006
Messages
23,897
Location
Vernon, B.C.
Ok 'Housers edumacate me. The interwebs can be a dangerous place and now that I've ripped up half the flooring in my basement I'm considering putting in a sump pump. Seems fairly straight forward And I have the perfect spot(low point is in an existing closet) to put the pit.

But! I am leery of jack hammering my basement floor. I've read to stay atleast 8" away from an outside wall in order to avoid possibly hitting a footing. Anyone here think/know of anything else to consider before getting destructive? No utilities like water and whatnot are anywhere near the planned destruction.

Is it really as easy it looks on YouTube to bust out concrete? Also my house is 50 years old, just wondering if that makes any difference to the 'type' of concrete or thickness I should expect to see?

Also worth noting is that in the nearly six years we've lived here this is the first water we've had, also from the looks of the ten year old re-doing of the basement there's been no water in the home whatsoever in that time for sure. I have completely torn up all of the low side of the basement and there is no sign of previous moisture. So am I just being overly paranoid now?

The flash flood/rainstorm that caused this flooding occurred when the field directly behind my house was already quite saturated by irrigation. I don't own this field so can't really control how/when it's irrigated. Just seems like while I'm redoing this whole section that it would be cheap insurance to install a sump pit.
 
...I am opiniated about sump pump solutions....they are generally cheap , short lived , and require electricity to function (which is un- available in many storms). Best is dig from the outside and install perimeter drains W crushed stone at or below footings. Done right system only needs gravity. Move water down and away from building before not after. Have done this here , low tech solution.
 
I'd do both, sump pit as back up to outdoor landscaping and tile to reroute water. Drill test hole in the floor, will tell you what you up against.
 
Yep , easier long term solution. Add some tar to exterior foundation , then install 4" plastic drainpipe , finish w crushed stone. Did my place by hand w shovel as excavator would not fit.
 
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  • #7
Yah all good advice. My place has some extensive underground drainage in place that works quite well I believe. It was just overwhelmed by the storm by being saturated from the irrigation. I have had zero issues during spring run-off when it is really wet around here. I'm in a bit of a fishbowl collecting run-off from large fields on a hillside above me. I have a spring and creek on my property well below grade of my home that extensive underground drainage runs into. I feel like these systems have done really well and don't feel I need to make changes there.

This I'm sure only occurred because of the volume of water in such a short period of time, as I said I have no issues during the spring melt when upwards of 3'-4' of consolidated snow melt off.

Drilling a test hole or two seems like a sound plan.

Irregardless if something else outdoors or in for drainage(tile, French drain, whatever) needs to be done a pit and pump seems like a good plan at this point in time to me. I'm not so worried about the power outage issue, but I have seen that there are many quality pump set-ups that offer a battery backup pump and alarms if the water gets to high and the pump isn't operating. I don't know if I really need something like that, we have rarely to never lost power since living here.
 
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  • #8
I should add that in the closet I refer to in the opening post, there is a small hole already in the floor where you can visually see down aways if there is any water under the house or not, this is where I believe the water entered my basement. The water level has already dropped away and the basement is already bone dry again. So this spot is where I'm thinking to make my pit/sump and that way instead of just being able to see if water is rising, it would just pump it out. But I worry that I could be digging into/disturbing existing drainage that's in place?
 
You can get pre-made plastic sump pits to install (cement in) after you knock out the concrete.

The water can very well have come up through any floor openings whenever the ground underneath reaches saturation.

Putting in a pit and having a sump there as a back-up for when drainage gets overwhelmed is a good thing. It might only happen every ten years, bu who wants to dry out a basement every ten years...

If your place is already tiled and stoned, chances are there is stone and tile under the basement floor and through footings also. If you run into a tile just divert it around the sump...

In order for the system to work properly all holes in the floor, including cracks must be sealed as much as possible.

Another option is a channel around the outside edge of the floor and into the sump if the leaks are coming from the walls.
 
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  • #10
Thanks.

I had to do a bunch of errands in town today.

My plan now is to 'feel' around through the hole with a long drill bit to try to determine where footings are and then install a sump pump system as best I can. Lol.
 
You shouldn't run into footings unless there is a supporting wall, or post there. Not sure on the building codes there so couldn't tell you what you may run into for width. Generally here, if I remember right they would be 12-24" wide for wall and 1' to 3' square for posts depending on area code and soil stability.
 
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  • #12
Yah I figure better safe than sorry. It would appear that my house was built in two stages and that concrete was considered cheap. I think the low point in the corner of this closet is where an addition was added on shortly after the house was built as it would've been tiny(half the size and my house is quite small) before it was done. So I'm concerned there could be footings on the exterior wall as well as the interior wall which would then put my sump pit nearly outside of the closet and rather obtrusive.
 
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  • #16
Lol. I did think about just putting some plumbers putty over the whole.
 
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  • #18
Hmmm. So I have a jackhammer lined up for this morning, all my ducks in a row. Then at about 5:30 it started pouring here again. I found that my eaves was plugged on that side/corner of the house and spilling water out where it could have been running down and getting in. ive cleared that so everything is running smoothly and with everything tore up I'm thinking of monitoring my 'hole'(lol) and seeing if any water starts to come up underneath or anywhere else for that matter. It's supposed to rain all day and night and deliver quite a bit of moisture for what we are used to.

So now if no water rears its head it's got me re-thinking about digging in a sump? I wouldn't even think twice about it and just put one in except that it isn't going to be able to be located in a very ideal spot now that I've measured every thing out, it isn't really going to fit into the closet I was hoping. It'll protrude some into the room, further complicating what I have to do to get my basement back together again.

All I want to do is go fishing!
 
I think you can get a deep-cycle battery back-up for a sump pump.

Seems like filling the entry hole might do the ticket, but I'm not builder.
 
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  • #20
No I don't think filling in the hole would solve it. I'll be painting in there and monitoring it all day for now. Probably will still just punch in a sump pump.
 
I like the wait and see plan...clogged gutter could have been the culprit. Many times it is something simple like that...hope so for you.
 
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  • #22
No luck. We've had a wet for around here last few days and there's definetly water under there. None that's come up into the basement but I can see it down the hole. So I've got a sump basin and a stretch of nice weather has come up that will dry everything up. Problem is a good friend of mine is coming into town for a few days of boating.......so I may just have to recreate instead of re-create my basement for the next couple of days.
 
Hmmm, see water.... drive a sand point and water the lawn and garden with it. I have water 10ft down, drove a point, feeds the shop, outside and toilet. Saves on city water use.
 
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  • #25
I'm not familiar with that, but I don't lack on water anyways. I get an agriculture allotment or quota of water each year that I can never use all of. It would cost me more if I went over my allotment but I don't save anything if I'm under, so basically my water is a fixed cost and I can use as much as I possibly can.
 
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