What If Your Sump Pump Failed
DID YOU EVER THINK WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO YOU IF YOUR SUMP PUMP FAILED?
DO YOU WANT TO KNOW SOME THINGS THAT YOU CAN DO TO REDUCE THE CHANCES THAT THIS HAPPENS TO YOU?
If your home has a sump pump, you may want to consider some options to create a back up plan in case your sump pump fails. If you have a finished basement, you should consider what your options are to protect your investment. Most homeowners take their sump pump for granted and only put thought into it after they get water in the basement.
Sump pumps can fail due to many reasons. The main reasons are:
- It just quits working. Like any appliance, coffee pot, hair dryer, etc… they can die at anytime. They can last forever, or 1 day. The automatic switch can burn out, or the main pump can burn up. You never know.
- It can’t keep up with the water inflow. If you get a rain event that is just too much for your sump pump to handle, it may not keep up and overflow your sump pit.
- Clogs. Sometimes little rocks or other debris washes into the sump pit basin and causes the sump pump to run at a lower capacity.
- Power Outage.
There are many steps that you can take to INCREASE YOUR CHANCES of keeping your basement dry due to a sump pump issue. You will just need to take action on 1 or more of these things if you desire extra piece of mind.
Here are some options to consider, in order from least expensive to most, with approximate costs to you if you were to hire a professional. Of course, you can do them for less if you choose to do the work yourself:
MAINTAIN YOUR EXISTING SUMP PUMP ($ 100 per year)
Once a year, you can consider having your sump pump looked at. During this inspection, have your sump pit cleaned out and remove the things that can be sucked up into the sump pump’s impeller. If there is anything in the sump pump that may have been keeping it from operating at full capacity, you can have it removed before it does too much damage to the pump. By simply providing a maintenance to this appliance, you can possibly keep it operating longer.
ADD A 2nd SUMP PUMP just like the one you have ($ 250 – $ 400)
Two pumps are better than 1! This will double your chances in case you have a pump failure, but won’t help you in case of a power outage. It will also give you double the pumping power in a heavy rain event.
ADD A BATTERY POWERED BACK UP ($ 500 – $ 1,200)
Two pumps are better than 1, plus this one will work in case of a power outage.
There are many types of back up pumps, and we will not get into the details of them in this article. They also make a water back up pump, that does not operate on a battery but works on the water pressure of your home’s water service line.
ADD A POWER GENERATOR ($ 300 – $ 10,000)
A generator is more effective than a battery back up sump pump. Generators come in many different sizes and capabilities which can vary in cost greatly. You can spend $ 300 to get one that you will have to pull start, or you can spend upwards of $10,000 to get one that turns on automatically and runs your entire home. There are plenty of options in between as well.
LASTLY, check to see if your home has insurance for a sump pump failure. Typically, insurance companies do not automatically provide this to you unless you ask. But, the costs are usually not that much to get it. If you have a finished basement, this may provide much needed piece of mind in case all your efforts still don’t work.
