Ground's a litte wet here in Michigan

[Matt Meiser]

For the second time since the Independece day I had water running across my shop floor after a heavy rain. We've had so much heavy rain in the past few weeks, the ground water level is so high its coming through the gravel around the frost-free hydrant in my shop. Tonight I dug out a bunch of the gravel and put a 5 gal bucket in to act as a sump. Tomorrow I have to find some kind of pump that will work. So far it looks like I'll have to drop $125 on one at Lowes I filled my shop vac with 6 gallons of water once before digging out the gravel and one and a half more times while digging tonight.

We've got puddled areas in our yard even at a higher elevation than my shop. The ground is just plain saturated.

[Jason Roehl]

Yeah, Matt, we're pretty wet here, too. Fortunately for us, we dodged a pretty big bullet last night. Just SE of us, in Frankfort, they got 5" of rain--from the looks of things we might have gotten a sprinkle as the level of water in the rain gauge didn't change much. This after about 2.5"-3" of rain on Tuesday. Had we gotten that 5" here, our property would have been a mess, with standing water all around the house, and our cellar/basement/crawlspace would have been filled to the brim and then some.

I hope you get a nice breeze to help dry things out!

[Joe Pelonio]

Matt,

Is there a Grainger near you? They have many sump pumps, under $100.
Here in the famously wet NW we have our usual misty drizzle this morning,
we hardly ever get that kind of rain. I hope your storm is a one-time event that stops soon.

[Kyle Kraft]

Wow, bummer. Over here in the Kalamazoo bubble where I live we have only received .4 inches of rain in the last 2 weeks. It's so stinkin dry the water beads up on the soil and if it does soak in its gone the next day and we're back to dust. Haven't mowed the yard since June 22nd.

[Rob Russell]

We lived with a sump pump until I paid to have a contractor dig a trench and run a pipe from the sump down to the storm drain in the street (our house sits up above the street).

When I had to replace the pump when the old one died, I bought a Might-Mite. It was $150/175, but it's a workhorse of a pump.

Whatever brand you go with, get a submersible pump. The water helps cool the pump and they last longer.

Rob

[Matt Meiser]

Is there a Grainger near you? They have many sump pumps, under $100.

Yep. Was looking there this morning and I get 10% off. I think I found one at Sears that will be perfect for about $99. The flow rate is very low so I only need a little pump. A garden hose will easily handle it. The water was about an inch above the rim of the bucket this morning, so I got about 6 gallons in 7 hours.

I have a hose hooked up to the hydrant for a "sink" that drains back into the hole normally. Never had a problem with it draining. I think I'm going to drill several holes in the bottom of the bucket. When the ground water is up, the bucket will start to fill, and if needed the pump can pump it down. I'll also drain the "sink" in there, and if it can't soak into the ground fast enough, the pump can pump it out. I'm just going to discharge it onto the gravel driveway.

[Dennis Peacock]

Wow!!! That's a lot of water there Matt. It's pretty dry here and has been for a while. We sure could use some of your rain. Can you send some down Arkysaw way?

[Jim Hinze]

Matt, if you want to take a little extra time, you could burry a true sump well liner (they have them at the BORG), I beleive there around 10g and may help a bit more..

Yep. Was looking there this morning and I get 10% off. I think I found one at Sears that will be perfect for about $99. The flow rate is very low so I only need a little pump. A garden hose will easily handle it. The water was about an inch above the rim of the bucket this morning, so I got about 6 gallons in 7 hours.

I have a hose hooked up to the hydrant for a "sink" that drains back into the hole normally. Never had a problem with it draining. I think I'm going to drill several holes in the bottom of the bucket. When the ground water is up, the bucket will start to fill, and if needed the pump can pump it down. I'll also drain the "sink" in there, and if it can't soak into the ground fast enough, the pump can pump it out. I'm just going to discharge it onto the gravel driveway.

[Ned Bulken]

we had 4.5" of rain yesterday in about a three hour span, roads closed, yard flooded, but the house stayed dry. Lots of 'fun' I couldn't get to work on time, had to wait for them to open up the Main road between me and the office.

[Matt Meiser]

Matt, if you want to take a little extra time, you could burry a true sump well liner (they have them at the BORG), I beleive there around 10g and may help a bit more..

I'd have to bust out concrete to do that. or I would. This is a pretty crowded area as both the water line and electrical come in on the same corner of the building, plus I put my compressor over there too. I plan to cover the "sump" with the lid and a couple PT 2x4 to keep it in place and then some gravel. Maybe a 2" inspection port to let me look in there with a flash light and mirror to see what's going on.

[Jim Hinze]

I'd have to bust out concrete to do that. or I would. This is a pretty crowded area as both the water line and electrical come in on the same corner of the building, plus I put my compressor over there too. I plan to cover the "sump" with the lid and a couple PT 2x4 to keep it in place and then some gravel. Maybe a 2" inspection port to let me look in there with a flash light and mirror to see what's going on.

Sorry Matt... looked like from the pic you might have had the room.

[Matt Meiser]

Sorry Matt... looked like from the pic you might have had the room.

The main thing blocking it is the hydrant's location. Not to worry though, the bucket is going to work fine. I got that part finished up last night. I ended up lifting it up some. Actually I didn't lift it--when I pulled out the 2x4 shown in the picture it floated right up. I installed a PT 2x4 on either side of the bucket and lag bolted the bucket to them so that the top is a little below floor level. My wife picked up the Sears pump for me which fits perfectly. I used some adapters to attach a garden hose and it pumps it down nicely. About the same pump runtime as our house sump pump which is more powerful, with bigger pipe in a bigger sump. I a hole in the lid for the wiring and hose to come out and one for the "sink" to drain into and drilled a row of holes around the bucket midway down the side. Then I backfilled with the stone. It really works well. For now I just have the hose running out into the yard under the entry door. Even with the door closed on the hose it still pumps fine. Today I'm going to pick up some PVC fittings to run a line through the wall and out onto the gravel driveway for the permanant discharge line. I'm also going to make a plywood cover for the entire opening since the bucket lid won't support much weight, and the gravel is no longer level with the floor. I tend to be a klutz and I easily sprain my ankle do to a previous injury, so that won't be a good combination.

All in all this wasn't too bad of a project so far, despite being one I never thought I'd have to do.