Help with sump basin style/replacement

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agstaff

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I have finally decided to pull out my existing 15"x20" sump basin due to its small size. I am planning on installing at least an 18x24, if not larger. My home was built in the early 70's with a poured foundation wall & interior weeping tiles that terminate in the sump. My basin has no perforations, but no bottom either, just gravel. My sump runs constantly throughout the year, even now after just getting 14" of snow this weekend. When we get a heavy rain my pump can barely keep up, running every 15-30 seconds it seems.

My question to all of you is should the new basin be perforated or should I cut the bottom off? If the weeping tile is draining into the sump, and there is no bottom or it has holes, would that water then drain out the holes or bottom under the slab/floor to just rise up into the weeping tile again and be dumped into the sump basin? Am I in effect constantly recycling that water so to speak? I currently have the float set to turn on the pump at the bottom of the weeping tiles so I'm not filling them up & using them for water storage, so I'm not sure of the natural water table level.

Much thanks in advance for any insight and input!

Andy
 

Reach4

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I dug a sump pit and put a round sump liner into place. I drilled a bunch of quarter-inch holes with a hand held drill. This served to keep the pea gravel out of the pit. I made the hole a little bigger than the OD of the sump liner. I held the liner down against any floating. I could have put a 2x4 assembly poking against the ceiling to hold things down temporarily, but I did it differently. Anyway, I filled in the inch or 2 around the liner with smooth pea gravel. I then put concrete in the space between the existing floor and the sump liner. It still works well. The 1/4 inch holes keep the gravel out nicely.

You can add more holes after the liner is cemented in place if you pump water out first.

I used a black polyethylene sump liner with lid. In retrospect, I might have used a 30 inch or 3 ft deep sealed sewage pit as my friend did... It is more rugged.

Deeper is better if you can dig. I was digging in clay. I rented a small electric jackhammer to make and shape the hole in the concrete. I used a bolt cutter to snip the wire reinforcement in the concrete. I used a shovel and a long bulb planter to dig into the clay and take out little cylinders of clay. After I was down a ways, the shovel did not work due to the sides of the hole restricting the access. I dug under a low stair landing (so maybe a 4 ft ceiling for working), so I did not have room to use a post hole digger. I did my work at a dryer time, so that helped. If you are digging into water, that will be harder.
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