How to install a sump pump
To be effective, the sump pump should be mounted below the floor level and discharge outside the building to a location that will drain away from the basement.
To protect a basement in a flood area or even as a general precaution for a basement in a house located where severe rainstorms occur, install a submersible sump pump.
A submersible sump pump is relatively inexpensive and it’s easy to install. If the basement is finished — especially if it has a bathroom — a sump pump is necessary to protect from damage caused when water backs up into the area.
How to install a sump pump
To be effective, the sump pump should be mounted below the floor level and discharge outside the building to a location that will drain away from the basement. Otherwise the water could flow back into the basement.
The pump will need electric power nearby located at a height where water isn’t likely to reach it.
The pump will need electric power nearby located at a height where water isn’t likely to reach it.
The sump pump sits in a tub basin that you purchase separately. The size of the basin will determine the size of the hole you’ll need. Start by inverting the basin in the desired position and using a marker to outline where the hole should be broken out of the concrete.
Use a sledgehammer or jackhammer to break the concrete and try to break the hole evenly. Remove the broken concrete and dirt from the hole. Dig the hole to a depth that allows the sump pump to sit flush with the floor.
Before placing the basin into the hole, wrap it in a filter or landscape fabric blanket to help prevent small rocks and silt from being drawn into the pump. The pump itself has a filter screen, but the fabric filter provides an extra level of protection and will decrease the likelihood of clogging the inlet.
Set the pump into the basin following the manufacturers installation instructions. Some sump pumps must sit on a flat surface like a paver or several bricks that are set in the bottom of the basin. If there is a cover for the basin, align the discharge pipe with the hole in the cover.
Install a one-way check valve to the pump or add a short stand pipe to prevent water from running back into the sump. Run the discharge pipe, sized according to the pump outlet – usually 1½ or 2 inches – to the wall through 45-degree elbows to where it will exit through the wall.
Measure carefully and use a hole saw to drill through the siding and any joist. Dry fit the pipe out to the discharge point in the yard and glue the pipe. Caulk the holes around the discharge pipe.
Plug in the pump and verify that it is working. Use gravel to fill around the basin and make repairs to the basement floor if necessary. Fit the basin cover.
—By Steve Sturgess, stevesturgess.com
