Old house sump pump install question

[Mountain Mike]

I've got a 100 year old farmhouse with a cellar style basement that floods every couple of years. The concrete floor slopes to the edges and drains down to one corner that once had a drain. That drain is totally plugged and I have no idea where it goes. I want to put a sump pump in it.

I have a gfci outlet nearby and a good unused drain close where the previous owners had their washing machine drain into a stream beside the house.

The location where the pump will sit is already about a foot lower than the rest of the floor in the basement.

My question is, do I need to fully bury my sump pit, since the location is already below floor level or is it ok to have part of the pit above the floor surface? I don't mind digging out the drain pit and busting up the concrete to make a basin fit, I just think that it will be overkill since the floor where the sump basin will go is already lower than the rest of the floor.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Mike

 

[Reach4]

There are pumps called "utility pumps" that can suck down close to a surface. If you want to automate the pumping from the utility pump, there are pump control sensors that work with an electrode rather than with a float switch. You could set that to turn on when the water rose to maybe 5/8 inch and turn off at maybe 3/8 inch. I just guessed at the electrode depths that might work for you. You should adjust to what works best for you.

If you want to put in a sump pump with a float switch, I suggest that you dig a sump (lined pit) for your pump. It is not that hard to do in dry season.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[LLigetfa]

Normally there would be some sort of gravel base beneath the floor and perhaps around the perimeter of the footing. A sump should be dug down into that gravel medium to lower the water table so that the underside of the floor is not in contact with water. A frequently damp floor will raise the humidity and promote the growth of mold.

 

[Jadnashua]

With a decent sized pit, you will be less likely to burn out a pump motor that might end up only having short, but potentially frequent cycles. Having a pit will allow the pump to run a bit longer while it lowers the water level, and things will last longer. Having a pump turn on/off frequently is also annoying since they aren't always that quiet and then, the checkvalve can be noisy, too. Seems that you don't have a huge distance you need to lift the water, so you may be able to get by with a smaller one...depends on how deep the water gets and how fast it refills.

Moisture in the basement or crawl space sometimes is more a factor of how the gutters are run and the slope of the landscaping around the foundation.

Washing machine into a stream, huh...not good, glad that got changed!

 

[Mountain Mike]

I've got a couple of those floor sucker utility pumps and I've used them in the past. I've seen the sensors and float switches that I could add to them and that would probably work, but I'm looking for a more permanent soloution now and something with a more powerful pump.

I don't know if they put gravel under my floor before they poured it 100 years ago, but my guess is that they didn't. But with the way my floor slopes and how they channeled the water that seeps in (or gushes in) every so often to the low spot where the drain used to be it dries out pretty quickly and a dehumidifier helps out.

When we get a massive rain or a big snow melt is when I have problems. I'm not worried about keeping it super dry, it's not a basement that can be finished, I just don't want a foot of standing water down there.

I do need to work on my gutters and drainage, but I live at the base of a hill and I have a lot of ground water year round. I'm pretty sure I will always have water entering when we have heavy rains.

The previous owners had all kinds of fun stuff rigged up. Fortunately they updated the well and septic before we moved in.

 

[Mountain Mike]

Thanks for the replys

 

[Cacher_Chick]

The main problem with just setting the pump in the corner is that all of the common switches need a minimum 3-4" of water to start the pump, and then the pump will only run for a few seconds before it has pumped down to the shut-off level. A properly sized pit and pump will run for 60 seconds or more at a time, which is vital in keeping the pump motor from self-destructing.

 

[Mountain Mike]

I don't think that I will have a problem with it cycling too frequently since it already sits about a foot lower than the main floor- it's kind of like I have a really large basin. The whole floor drains to this one area about 4' x 4' with the smaller plugged up drain in the corner of that.

I think my plan is to dig out the drain and bust out some of the concrete so that I can install the pump basin in what was once the drain. I'm just trying to figure out if I really need to go down deep enough to fully install a plastic sump basin or if I can leave a few inches of it above the floor, since that part of the floor already sits lower than the rest of it.

I really only have problems when we get heavy rains or when the ground is saturated and we get a lot of snow melt.