Michael C. Irvin
New Member
Hi all,
New member, home owner, and newbie sump pump guy. I have an 8 year old house and have had my sump pump fail on me twice already in an area when only moderate-to-heavy rains run the pumps. The first time, we had some water in our finished basement while we were away at Disney and decided at that time to replace the sump and put in a second pump with a third battery powered backup (with interior french drain around the perimeter).
The pictures below show some of the progress from that project. The new sump was put in the square basin and the original sump was in the circular one. After the project was all finished, the NEW sump in the round pit failed around 3 years after the install.
I mention all of this as I am planning on replacing the failed pump myself (I think I am good there) but I believe that when we have heavy\long rains the sump in the round basin can cycle every 1-2 minutes as the basin is "solid" (non-perforated) and only has a drain pipe towards the top entering into it. The sump can empty that basin in about 5 seconds.
I am wondering if I should drill some holes in the basin to allow more water to flow into the basin while it is pumping out and thus pumping more at a time but cycling less often. The problem I have is that I really don't know how the builder "packed around" the basin and if I drill holes (Say a couple of rings of 5/8" holes) am I setting myself up for problems with small particles moving into the basin over time. [I am ok with "cleaning out" the basin if need be as I am going to make sure I can detach each connected pipe without having to re-cut]
As you can see, the second basin is perforated, but obviously the outside of the basin has small rocks all around it.
Idea, comments, suggestions all welcome.
Sincerely,
Mike
New member, home owner, and newbie sump pump guy. I have an 8 year old house and have had my sump pump fail on me twice already in an area when only moderate-to-heavy rains run the pumps. The first time, we had some water in our finished basement while we were away at Disney and decided at that time to replace the sump and put in a second pump with a third battery powered backup (with interior french drain around the perimeter).
The pictures below show some of the progress from that project. The new sump was put in the square basin and the original sump was in the circular one. After the project was all finished, the NEW sump in the round pit failed around 3 years after the install.
I mention all of this as I am planning on replacing the failed pump myself (I think I am good there) but I believe that when we have heavy\long rains the sump in the round basin can cycle every 1-2 minutes as the basin is "solid" (non-perforated) and only has a drain pipe towards the top entering into it. The sump can empty that basin in about 5 seconds.
I am wondering if I should drill some holes in the basin to allow more water to flow into the basin while it is pumping out and thus pumping more at a time but cycling less often. The problem I have is that I really don't know how the builder "packed around" the basin and if I drill holes (Say a couple of rings of 5/8" holes) am I setting myself up for problems with small particles moving into the basin over time. [I am ok with "cleaning out" the basin if need be as I am going to make sure I can detach each connected pipe without having to re-cut]
As you can see, the second basin is perforated, but obviously the outside of the basin has small rocks all around it.
Idea, comments, suggestions all welcome.
Sincerely,
Mike