hello, not sure if any of you had this done or if some plumberscould chime in. I have an unfinished basement, concrete foundation (house is late 80s) and a septic system.

the past few years we've been getting water in the cellar when we have extreme rain which I need to pump out via a portable sump and a wet vac. I'd like to put in a permanent or automatic sump pump and I'm wondering how much $ that will run me, roughly?
Where would the pump drain if I have septic?

I dont need anything fancy as the basement is not finished.

Ideally you'd want the pump to drain out to a drywell.

the cost depends on a few things

parts could go 3-400
labors may be same

is there an outlet nearby where you want the pit?

how far out does the discharge need to go? did you want it buried in the lawn?

it all adds up

First off if you have gutters make sure the down spouts drain away from the foundation, If you don't have gutters you may want to get them installed

the best place for a sump pump to drain is to you nearest storm drain in the street.

as for how much it will cost I suggest you get some estimates

We have french drains and a sump well......water pumps through an underground pipe to the back of my yard!:)

I wouldn't tie the sump pump to septic or town sewer mainly because of code and health issues. Run a discharge pipe as far from the foundation as possible .Maybe in the spring have contractor install a dry well or French drain

I was gonna mention it was illegal.

Jimmy give me a call.

We have french drains and a sump well......water pumps through an underground pipe to the back of my yard!:)

Same set up here. It works great until you go away for a few days and the pump starts working but the pipe is frozen and buried under snow.:wall:

Jim, if you need some of the pipe to run underground away from the house, I have some for you.

Jimmy give me a call.

will do

Same set up here. It works great until you go away for a few days and the pump starts working but the pipe is frozen and buried under snow.:wall:



FB, if you have sewers and a slop sink run the hose into it during the winter.

On my last house I just used 4 inch pipe at a good angle and ran the pipe off the embankment that was on the side of the lawn. The water ran through that pipe fast enough that it never froze even in the coldest weather. It could be zero out and you could watch the water come out of the end of that pipe hen the pump turned on. Just make sure you get penty of pitch on that discharge pipe.

I use a Little Giant , bronze submersible pump. 1st one lasted almost 30 years. Got the exact pump as a replacement even though it was much more $ than a newer designed plastic or cast iron one.

Pump has a diaphragm switch so it switches on when the water gets so deep. locating the depth of the pump in the hole you dig is critical. Too deep it will pump all the time , all year long. Mine is set to come on about 4 inches below where it will come into the cellar. it doesn't run at all in the dry weather but does in the spring and after a heavy stretch of rain.

Funny part is we had a problem for the first couple of years in this house. Then it went away for over 25 years. They then doubled the size of an industrial park on the other side of the highway but did not let any water drain in the direaction it was expanded. They sent it all our way and the water table came up so now I have to pump periodically.

Had I known they were doing it at the time , I would have protested the unnatural way they ran the runnoff but nobody knew until it was all finished and then you could do nothing.

Biggest problem is a power failure when the water table is high. Only happend 2 or 3 times in 45 years but when it does , its a pain in the butt. If I had a finished cellar i would have a battery and generator backup system but since my cellar is unfinished , I don't. I probably still should as I have to do a big cleanup of anything that will stay damp whenever it happens. cardboard boxes with stuff in them is the classic. the whole celler will dry out but the damned box bottoms will stay wet for 6 months and get moldy.