Outdoor Sump; Cord Length; Pit Type?

[red92s]

My wife and I recently bought our first home. The lot at the rear of the house had a very gentle grade TOWARDS the foundation, resulting in heavy water accumulation in the basement.

In order to give us a nice outdoor living space, we dug out a "sunken patio" area into the grade and added a retaining wall (more details here ).

I have a good low point graded in the patio area, but no good way to gravity drain to daylight. I'm thinking an outdoor sump system is my best bet. I'd be pumping against hardly any vertical lift, maybe 2'. I'd like to locate the pit a few feet of the retaining wall, making it roughly 17 feet from the house. I'd also like to keep the outlet INSIDE the house, and not resort to running an outlet near the sump pit. Seems like the Zoeller M53/M57 line pumps is often recommended, but doesn't have a long enough cord (15') to reach a dedicated outlet inside the crawlspace. They list longer cord options (25', 35') on the Zoeller website . . . but I can't find anyone that actually sells those. Any alternate models or solutions I am overlooking?

We are in Atlanta, and while we do get freezing weather, it's rarely enough to freeze anything more than puddles. The frost line is pretty stinking shallow here. Any advice on what I should be looking at for a pit?

 

[Craigpump]

If you put some 4" perforated pipe behind the wall and back fill against the wall with crushed stone, it will pick up the runoff and not put a big load on your wall. You could then run the perforated pipe over to your sump pit that is going to pick up the water off your patio. I have seen large diameter pieces of plastic perforated pipe, 36" diameter, that can be used as your sump pit. Put your pump in the pit and then figure out where you are going to run your discharge. As for a cord, you should be able to use an out door cord that has 12 gauge wire. You might want to run the cord through a piece of conduit.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[red92s]

The wall was built per manufacturers specs, with a 4" perforated toe drain at the first course, and 12" of crushed stone behind it. The toe drain exits through the wall face near the low point of the patio area. The manufacturer of the wall system is pretty firm in their recommendation that the toe drain is for "incidental" water only, and that ground and surface water should be managed before they reach the wall. We will be installing a combination of catch basins and a french drain behind the wall to meet that requirement. Those should be able to drain to daylight via gravity, as there is additional pitch available working from behind the wall.

I'm really seeking help specifically related to the pump setup. There is no shortage of sump pump information online, but very very little specifically related to outdoor residential applications

 

[BillTheEngineer]

Looking at your layout and pictures of your patio, I wouldn't think you need a pit and sump pump. It looks like you could run the drainage pipe from around the patio along the side of your driveway to the street. It looks like its pitched enough to flow fine. It's a good amount of trenching, but you don't need to be that deep.

 

[red92s]

Looking at your layout and pictures of your patio, I wouldn't think you need a pit and sump pump. It looks like you could run the drainage pipe from around the patio along the side of your driveway to the street. It looks like its pitched enough to flow fine. It's a good amount of trenching, but you don't need to be that deep.

That is my hope. I'll take an extra day of trenching over the expense and repercussions of a sump pump. Problem is, as soon as I add a catch basin to that low point in the patio, I've sucked up a sizable chunk of the total available drop. I have seem some low profile basins, and NDS has a newer model where you can change the outlet height, so it still might be possible.