Arla
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We HAD a sump pump under our house, tonight because of the crappy installation (I suspect a cheap/DIY job by prior owner) tonight after heavy rain, it broke (it turned on, the float got stuck, didn't turn off, by the time I got to it and released the float, smoke was coming out of the housing, now it won't turn on (just makes a grinding noise).
Now, I guess I have three (and a half) options,
1. Replace the sump pump, this will cost about $100 (the prior pump was an Ace .4hp pump), it lasted almost 3 years, I guess $33 per year isn't too bad
2. Try to DIY it myself to improve the design somewhat, my main concern is that the sump Basin is obviously a builders bucket (the rain has eroded the earth around the basin enough that I can now see the handle), that coupled with the pump design (float that can get stuck on wires, pipes, etc etc) caused a definite issue. Ideally if I was doing it and had lots of time to think it through, I'd definitely replace the bucket, possibly change around the outlet pipe and where that's going, problem with this is, it's raining in CA, and we're getting very wet, so this isn't something I can take my time thinking about, perhaps a stop-gap would be replace the pump with something like this instead, so that we're "safe" for now, and then when it's summer think about really digging out a proper basin (speaking of which, does anyone know a good site to look at how a proper basin is really designed, the bucket we have definitely has a few , reasonably large (i'd say 1/2 inch or so) holes drilled round the sides, but I'm curious what holes in the sides a proper basin has) and thinking about doing pipe-work.
3. Hire a professional and get it done properly, this would involve putting in a new basin/pump, digging out a proper path to the kerb for the discharge pipe. My concern is that digging from the house to the kerb (roughly 60 feet?) could be a fairly major task in and of itself, would need to avoid the garden sprinkler system (or do something about it) and I know some utility access is in the front sidewalk. So my biggest concern here, is this would run several thousand dollars, for something that I've been informed isn't a "real" solution to our drainage problem anyway (need someone to design/install a french drain type system around the house, but that's something we've been putting off for a year when we have money).
Thoughts?
All comments appreciated
Now, I guess I have three (and a half) options,
1. Replace the sump pump, this will cost about $100 (the prior pump was an Ace .4hp pump), it lasted almost 3 years, I guess $33 per year isn't too bad
2. Try to DIY it myself to improve the design somewhat, my main concern is that the sump Basin is obviously a builders bucket (the rain has eroded the earth around the basin enough that I can now see the handle), that coupled with the pump design (float that can get stuck on wires, pipes, etc etc) caused a definite issue. Ideally if I was doing it and had lots of time to think it through, I'd definitely replace the bucket, possibly change around the outlet pipe and where that's going, problem with this is, it's raining in CA, and we're getting very wet, so this isn't something I can take my time thinking about, perhaps a stop-gap would be replace the pump with something like this instead, so that we're "safe" for now, and then when it's summer think about really digging out a proper basin (speaking of which, does anyone know a good site to look at how a proper basin is really designed, the bucket we have definitely has a few , reasonably large (i'd say 1/2 inch or so) holes drilled round the sides, but I'm curious what holes in the sides a proper basin has) and thinking about doing pipe-work.
3. Hire a professional and get it done properly, this would involve putting in a new basin/pump, digging out a proper path to the kerb for the discharge pipe. My concern is that digging from the house to the kerb (roughly 60 feet?) could be a fairly major task in and of itself, would need to avoid the garden sprinkler system (or do something about it) and I know some utility access is in the front sidewalk. So my biggest concern here, is this would run several thousand dollars, for something that I've been informed isn't a "real" solution to our drainage problem anyway (need someone to design/install a french drain type system around the house, but that's something we've been putting off for a year when we have money).
Thoughts?
All comments appreciated