Sump pump issues

[Claudel Xerxes]

My current home is the only home that I've ever lived in with a sump pump. I guess I should have assumed so, but did not realize that they should be routinely inspected. I'm currently having issues with mine after a heavy storm a week and a half ago. A number of times in the past week, the water will backup, but as soon as I give the pipe leading to the pump even a slight tap, the pump will turn on and work for at least a few hours, if not a day or so.

If the issue is something that I can check or do myself then I would prefer to save the money and not have to get a plumber over here. Any ideas or checklists that I can go through to see if it's something I can fix myself?

 

[Quaznoid]

Sounds electrical. Check all connections and junctions.

 

[Mojo88]

Sounds electrical. Check all connections and junctions.

If that doesn’t work get a hose and run clean water in the pit. It could be debris. Also that will tell if the float switch is going out.

Age might be a factor, if it runs on a regular basis it might be getting to the age where it will be cheaper to replace it rather than call a plumber. Its pretty easy to replace one, I have done a few.

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

Thank you, for the quick responses, gentleman. I'll check both of those out later this evening, and report back.

 

[speedwell]

Could be that your inlet is partially clogged. Could also be that there's an issue with your activation float. It's always a good idea to have someone check once a year, depending on how many folks in your household. Does yours handle sewage or ground water?

 

[Paul from IL]

float switch is failing. buy a new pump or replace the float switch if it is separate. not a hard job to do yourself

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

Wow... There was definitely debris in the crock. There's a toilet right next to it that has not been used in probably 2 years. The flush gasket was leaking about a year ago, and I turned the water leading to it off, and forgot about it. When I lifted the lid on the crock, I noticed that there was discoloration around the rim of the toilet. There's been a slight sewage smell down there, but I figured that it was from stagnant water in the crock. I lifted the cover up and the entire toilet bowl was filled. No one's been down there without me, so I know that it wasn't somebody relieving themself without flushing. Plus, close to the whole bowl was filled. We had an immense amount of rain come down in the span of only an hour during that storm last week. I wonder if the city's sewage system got backed up, and pushed sewage into the toilet (I'm not familiar with how that works)? And since I didn't have the tank full, the sewage just collected and backed the rest of my system up.

After I cleaned out as much of the waste as possible, I let the water flow for a little bit, and things seem to be much better now. There was also a gurgling from my main floor toilet after I flushed and was using the sink. After I cleaned my basement toilet out and let some water run through it, the gurgling has stopped in my main floor bathroom.

We have some rain coming tonight, so I'm going to keep an eye on it.

Thank you for all the responses and suggestions so far. I should have addressed it right when it started to become an issue. We have groundhogs and chipmunks and what not, so I was thinking that they've burrowed some holes that was allowing the ground water to seep back to the crock quickly. A few days ago, I dug a small trench like a sudo French drain tile to try to divert the water away from my house. I should have immediately asked about the issue instead of wasting the time and energy on that project.

 

[luvmysuper]

If you have any sinks, tubs, showers or toilets that are not regularly used, you should run water down the drain periodically to maintain the water seal.
If the water is turned off, you can use a bucket, but pour slowly to fill it up so you don't start a siphon effect that sucks out your water seal.
The water seal is the only thing that keeps nasty and often hazardous gases from sewer lines from backing up into the house.

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

It certainly a humbling experience that's teaching me a bit of humility. I became a first time homeowner a little under four years ago. When I first moved in I was energetic and enthusiastic to tackle projects. I've become lazy it seems.

I'll probably just go out tomorrow and get some new internals and gaskets for the toilet so that the water to it can stay on. I've replaced a few, so I know what I'm doing when it comes to that. Most likely I'll get some more cleaning products as well.

 

[Mojo88]

It certainly a humbling experience that's teaching me a bit of humility. I became a first time homeowner a little under four years ago. When I first moved in I was energetic and enthusiastic to tackle projects. I've become lazy it seems.

I'll probably just go out tomorrow and get some new internals and gaskets for the toilet so that the water to it can stay on. I've replaced a few, so I know what I'm doing when it comes to that. Most likely I'll get some more cleaning products as well.

It’s easy to run out of steam on maintenance. You go from one project to the next and it gets tiresome.
While you are the hardware store picking up parts you might want to pick up some copper sulfate for your drain. It sounds like you have city water and sewer. Those tree roots can do a number and getting them water jetted is pricey.

 

[Tulsa1977]

It will be interesting to see if you have a chopper pump or a regular sump pump. In our area, if you have a pump downstream of a toilet, a chopper pump is installed. I agree with others, sounds like the float mechanism might be going south. Replacement pumps are pretty affordable and easy to install. Consider installing a backflow prevention valve on the output side of the pump if you don’t have one.

 

[ColtRevolver]

If my sump pump fails during a rainy season, my basement could flood. I had a pump motor go out during one such time. It happened on a Sunday afternoon about ten minutes before the big box hardware store was to close. I just made it and got their last pump. After that experience, I bought a spare pump to keep on hand.

Back on topic, the gurgling from a sink and a toilet filling with sewage sounds like a back up somewhere downstream from the house.

 

[speedwell]

For anyone with a sump, I recommend a small, portable generator (with battery powered ignition) combined with a portable submersible pump that can be used in case of emergencies. During times of concern, the generator gets placed outside and I pop the lid on the sump tank, replacing it with a 3/4" plywood cover into which I've routed a hole on the circumference. This way, I can keep the plywood covering the hole (for safety and odor containment), without pinching the hose, and run the hose through a small basement window to the lowest adjacent street elevation (mine sump is for groundwater not sewage). I've had this setup for almost a year now and never needed to use it but it sure gives peace of mind.

One caution: make sure (as best you can) that your pump and hose combo have enough capacity to handle your worst case scenario water accumulation rate. I thought I was sitting pretty but when my sump tech came and looked at my setup, he told me that I would flood anyway because my pump might not be powerful enough to drain the sump tank fast enough. However, when I questioned him about what he was basing this on, he told me that he was only comparing the rating of the installed sump pump with the rating of the submersible pump. IMHO this is not necessarily a reliable assessment. Knowing the plumber who installed the pump and his propensity to overcharge, I've probably got a system capable of draining New Orleans and no portable submersible will ever measure up.

 

[ColtRevolver]

X2 on a generator if a sump pump needed to keep your basement dry.

 

[njpaddy]

X2 on a generator if a sump pump needed to keep your basement dry.

Had a house for 20 years with a finished basement and sump pump. The sump pump was there when we bought the house and still working when we sold it. Our initial issue with it was that it was on a crowded breaker. If the pump came on when our daughter was blow-drying her hair, it tripped the breaker. I had an electrician redistribute some of the breakers and put the sump pump on its own breaker, along with an outlet in our TV room with a night light/power failure light to alert us if the sump pump breaker ever tripped. I also used an old curtain rod to occasionally lift up the arm.

10 years in we had Hurricane Irene, which dumped a lot of rain with a 40 hour power outage. Fortunately the neighbor behind me had a generator and we ran 150' of extension cords from our sump pump to his generator. It was enough to run the pump at just a trickle, but it kept us from getting a foot of water in the basement like both neighbors next to us.

After Irene I bought a Honda generator and had an electrician install a 10 circuit transfer switch. When Hurricane Sandy knocked out out power for 9 days the next year, the generator with transfer switch not only powered the sump pump, but also our well-water pump, fridge, lights, internet, and even our furnace as temps dipped into the 50s at night. Friends & family would come over just to warm up and get coffee in the morning. When we sold the house in 2020, we left the generator with the buyer. It was a good selling point.

 

[Whisky]

Buy a battery powered back-up pump with an alarm that goes off if it's triggered. The float on my main pump got stuck a while back but backup pump worked as it should and set of the alarm so I knew there was an issue. It'll also give you 12-48hrs of pumping during a power outage depending on how often it's pumping. I also have a generator that I can use to keep it working if there's an extended power outage.