Sump Pump questions

[treeguy]

It is time to replace the sump pump.  I checked out my options online and at Home Depot and Menards.  I was wondering:

Does anyone have one with a battery backup?  If so:

Do you think its worth the extra $?
Did you go with one or two pumps?
How much maintenance and testing do you do?
Finally, if you are happy with your setup, what brand did you purchase?

Thanks for your advice!

[J'sMom]

It is time to replace the sump pump.  I checked out my options online and at Home Depot and Menards.  I was wondering:

Does anyone have one with a battery backup?  If so:

Do you think its worth the extra $?
Did you go with one or two pumps?
How much maintenance and testing do you do?
Finally, if you are happy with your setup, what brand did you purchase?

Thanks for your advice!

I have a battery backup and found that it is absolutely worth the extra money. The battery saved my basement from flooding last summer when we briefly lost power during a storm. I replace it every three years. We have a Triple-Safe sump pump which means there are three pumps in the pit, installed by PermaSeal. We had the sump pump checked out last year when we replaced the battery and all was well.

[OakParkSpartan]

I'd suggest PermaSeal as well.

One thing to consider...if you wonder why you need a backup pump...how often has the electricity gone out on a dry, sunny day?  It usually goes out just when you will need the pump. 

Also, having a backup means that if the primary pump physically fails, you still have a functional system.  It isn't just for electric outages.

[PamF]

Permaseal did ours as well. 

Not sure yet if all the costs were worth it but I am not taking chances after last summer!

[Bonster]

Did you install an overhead sewer as well?

[PamF]

No, just added an outdoor french drain tile system on the flooding yard side of the house (already have interior french drain tile installed).

[berwynson]

The cracks in our bungalow's basement floor POURED water in, after heavy rains, to the extent we felt an enormous pump would have been necessary. Then, the question was, where could it discharge the water removed from the basement? After rains, the street sewers backed-up, full to the brim, and one could see the water rise in the basement floor drains, using a flashlight. We had screw-in "standpipes" with a rubber-gasketed flanged base, about 3 feet high, to prevent the floor drains from simply flooding the basement. Early on, before too many cracks had formed in the foundation and floor, the water usually rose in these standpipes only about a foot or so, and basement flooding was spared, or at least minimized.

One summer, the water "poured" over the tops of the standpipes, and the basement wound up with 3 feet of stinking, sewage-laden water in it! Standard question the old man asked, or was asked, before we embarked on a drive somewhere, was, "did you put the pipes in?"

berwynson  (would've made a good thread for me to start; why didn't I think of it?)

Edit: Conrad, our neighbor, possessed that miracle basement which, he claimed, "never flooded"! After the big one described, EVERYONE on the block had brought all sorts of soaked and despoiled items out in the backyard, Conrad included!

[softball mom]

Did the permaseal installed sump pumps work last night?  I am interested in calling them. Thanks.

[jake]

No, just added an outdoor french drain tile system on the flooding yard side of the house (already have interior french drain tile installed).

What did this cost?  How long is the drain run?

Thanks.

[Vic0218]

Did the permaseal installed sump pumps work last night?  I am interested in calling them. Thanks.

Yes, they did. My basement started flooding out of nowhere two years ago after one of the massive storms....then proceeded to get water after every major rainfall. 7 yrs here with no flooding, and no flooding prior to that according to the previous owners. Then 2 yrs ago the flooding started. Add to that we have a sunken yard, so we know there is water under our foundation.

Permaseal installed a sump pump with backup battery, and we also had interier drain tiles installed, plus a few areas on our foundation treated (sealed). No water since that time, and our neighbors all around us have since flooded multiple times (they also never used to flood).

I realize that no basement is safe from flooding no matter what system is in place. But I'd have to say that I'm happy with the results of our Permaseal solution. It is always interesting to me to hear the pump going off - the pump was going off for 18 hours after the deluge early Sat. morning.

[buzz]

Add to that we have a sunken yard, so we know there is water under our foundation.

Is that a sign that there's water under the foundation ?