Sump Pump

[Tom Bender]

It runs on rare occasions due to the trickle from the A/C, but most times the perimeter foundation loop absorbs that so the pump has run maybe 20 times in it's 34 years. It failed so I bought a new one, connected and tested it. Unfortunately I wiggled the piping a bit too much and it came apart up in the floor joist space, showering me with that old scummy sump water. I'll repipe it. Planning third trip to the store for parts.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Planning third trip to the store for parts.Pretty much right on track for anything with a plumbing component.

[Paul F Franklin]

Ugh. Of all the DIY stuff I do, and that's pretty much everything, plumbing is my least favorite. There always seem to be unwelcome surprises no matter how much I try to anticipate issues. And since good local full service plumbing supply places are long gone, finding anything out of the ordinary is a challenge.

[Lee Schierer]

It runs on rare occasions due to the trickle from the A/C, but most times the perimeter foundation loop absorbs that so the pump has run maybe 20 times in it's 34 years. It failed so I bought a new one, connected and tested it. Unfortunately I wiggled the piping a bit too much and it came apart up in the floor joist space, showering me with that old scummy sump water. I'll repipe it. Planning third trip to the store for parts.

Every plumbing job requires three trips to get parts.:rolleyes:

[Ralph Okonieski]

I normally make 4 trips: 3 to buy, 1 to return the extra stuff i bought just in case the sizes were wrong.

[Bill Dufour]

Try to pull flex pipe to replace the old stuff. As few joints as possible.
Bill D

[George Yetka]

Plastic union/fernco coupling above the sump pit will help to take it apart next time. If it runs that infrequently try raising it an inch. Then you may never need it. At that point I would dump 5 gallons in every 6 months to make sure it works.

[Bill Dufour]

PEX A tubing is pretty flexible and much less likely to kink then the black plastic stuff. Of course it costs a lot more. For a sump pump you can do the connections with hose clamps rather then buy the expensive crimper tool or expander.
Bill D.

[Tom Bender]

Success and it's better than before. Just ran 1 1/2" pvc again.

[Tom M King]

Every plumbing job requires three trips to get parts.:rolleyes:

DIY or pro. It's a universal rule.

[Jim Becker]

Every plumbing job requires three trips to get parts.:rolleyes:
And at least two stops to return what's not needed/not correct...'cause you can never get everything from just one store. :) :D

[Bill Dufour]

I always use a credit card when buying "stuff" at the hardware store I may return un-needed. No need to find the receipt to return stuff. Home depot has toughened up and requires receipts for refunds. used to be no receipt got you store credit only.
If you buy on credit they save the transaction for you. So losing the receipt is not a problem.
Bill D

[Jim Becker]

I always use a credit card when buying "stuff" at the hardware store I may return un-needed. No need to find the receipt to return stuff. Home depot has toughened up and requires receipts for refunds. used to be no receipt got you store credit only.
If you buy on credit they save the transaction for you. So losing the receipt is not a problem.
Bill D
HD does not require receipts for refunds if you used a credit card for the purchase...their system matches up your purchases with the product codes of what you are returning.

[Jerome Stanek]

My Home Depot asks if you want a printed reciept an rmail or both.

[Brian Elfert]

Plastic union/fernco coupling above the sump pit will help to take it apart next time. If it runs that infrequently try raising it an inch. Then you may never need it. At that point I would dump 5 gallons in every 6 months to make sure it works.

I did the Fernco thing for the sump pump at my first house so I could remove/replace the sump pump. The city did inspections to make sure nobody was dumping sump pump discharge into the sanitary sewer and they required hard pipe so it could not be moved back to dumping in the sanitary sewer easily.

[George Bokros]

I did the Fernco thing for the sump pump at my first house so I could remove/replace the sump pump. The city did inspections to make sure nobody was dumping sump pump discharge into the sanitary sewer and they required hard pipe so it could not be moved back to dumping in the sanitary sewer easily.

I lived in ne county in Ohio where they wanted sump pump piped into the sanitary sewer because they felt you could dump anything into the sump.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I recently discovered changes it the return policies at both Lowes and Home Depot. At ours no receipt returns now have a price limit depending on what was purchased. Store credit is no longer given for copper pipe, copper wire, and things made from aluminum. There is also a limit on return transactions referenced by the stores card transaction records. They will still look up your transaction for you but limit the number of items and/or dollars amount. If you have your paper receipt it is business as usual. I keep meaning to find a better way to keep track of all of the paper receipts. I think I will use a bank money bag.

We have a weather report often quoted by the kids and other friends with old houses. Many a conversation during rainy spells begin with "The Sump Pump Runneth"

[Jim Becker]

If you make a habit of opting for both paper and email receipts you will always have a "paper" receipt available should you need it...you can print out the email and it has every detail on it that the paper one from the store has, at least for Home Depot.

[Brian Elfert]

I lived in ne county in Ohio where they wanted sump pump piped into the sanitary sewer because they felt you could dump anything into the sump.

The problem is the sewage plants can get overwhelmed from a rain event and end up discharging untreated sewage. The sewage plant would need to be many times larger to process all storm water. It used to be common to have combined sewage and storm sewers. Cities have been working for decades now to separate combined sewer systems. The city my grandparents lived in spent millions in the 1980s to reconstruct all of the city streets including new sewer and water pipes to separate sewage and storm water. My mother said that the basement toilet would spew sewage during rain storms and have to be plugged with a rag to stop it.

[Jim Becker]

Brian, I found it interesting that here at our "downsize" home where we have public sewer, both the sump pump and the gutter drains all go to the same public sewer in the street. This was installed probably in the 1980s before our current house was built in 1993.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

The problem is the sewage plants can get overwhelmed from a rain event and end up discharging untreated sewage. The sewage plant would need to be many times larger to process all storm water. It used to be common to have combined sewage and storm sewers. Cities have been working for decades now to separate combined sewer systems. The city my grandparents lived in spent millions in the 1980s to reconstruct all of the city streets including new sewer and water pipes to separate sewage and storm water. My mother said that the basement toilet would spew sewage during rain storms and have to be plugged with a rag to stop it.

We have the exact same scenario in our town. Smoke testing and running cameras down drains to find violators is ongoing. Our daughters house had the "rainstorms causing a fountain of poo" problem before we installed a back flow preventer. Our son was living in his sisters basement when we had the worst problem. He now has a house in an old neighborhood in St Louis where it is common practice to put downspout drains and sump pump discharge into the sewer. I am eager to find out why this works in St Louis. I will ask a city engineer some questions when we go to get him a building permit for his basement bathroom project.

[Jim Becker]

Maurice, here at our specific address, we are near the "top" of the slope and we all know what "runs downhill"... :D So while I'm not personally worried about the combined sewer/sump/gutter flow into the public system at this specific address, I can absolutely understand how it can be an issue in some areas from both terrain and sewer design. At our old property, the sump had a separate pipe out to the landscape as we were on a septic system. Heck, the grey water from the original laundry location went into that sump and out to the lawn!

[Brian Elfert]

I suspect a lot of cities are just discharging untreated sewage during a rain event which likely violates their state and/or federal permits.

The city I previously lived in decided to replace all water meters as they had a number of different styles and many were at the end of their life and possibly not recording properly. Part of the meter replacement was they would inspect your sump pump (if you have one) and would not do the meter install if you failed the sump pump inspection meaning you discharged into the sanitary sewer. Once you failed the inspection the city would pay for 50% of the cost of fixing your sump pump discharge up to $500. I had to cut a deep trench and install 200 feet of 2" poly line to get my sump pump discharge to an acceptable discharge location. I was discharging over 1,200 gallons per day and the ground could not absorb that much.

It was cheaper for the city to hand out grants to fix sump pumps than to pay the fines for sending too much water to the sewage plant during rain events.