Sump pump advice

[rwhite]

I get about 2-3 inches of water every spring when snowmelt comes. My crawl space is probably 4-5' deep and probably at least 4' below grade. The issue is I dont have much soil to work with. I can dig a foot or so then hit solid bedrock. Can i adjust a pump so that the float switches on at 6" or so? Haven't bought a pump yet and want to make sure it can be done before I do. I know there would be some issue with pump cycling to often so I figured I'd dig a 4×4 hole to get some volume in that manner. My concern with that scenario is 1/2 of the pump could possibly be out of the water while pumping. Worried it may not cool properly. I really want to avoid jack hammering another 12" of basalt. I'm also dealing with heavy clay. So drainage is an issue. My main plan is to find the lowest spot in the crawlspace so it will at least drain over the top and not pool under the house.
Thoughts or ideas are appreciated.

 

[ABMax24]

Depends on the style of float switch, some you can adjust.

Best is to go into the local hardware store to pick one out and see how the floats work. I have seen some that can kick on in about 3" of water.

 

[rwhite]

Depends on the style of float switch, some you can adjust.

Best is to go into the local hardware store to pick one out and see how the floats work. I have seen some that can kick on in about 3" of water.

Planned on using a vertical switch type pump. I have a tether switch type now that I had laying around that I'm using to drain it. But it takes 18" or more to raise the tether. I just have it tied up to the pipe and turn a switch on/off to activate.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Is the water seeping up from the bottom or surface water finding your basement is the perfect bucket?

 

[rwhite]

I'm pretty sure its surface water and snowmelt. Water just perches on the hard clay and with the crawl space 4' below grade it has no where to go. There are no cracks or seepage in the foundation anywhere so I'm guessing that it's just backed up on the high side of the house and finding the easiest path up. I'm sure there is a better solution that involves an excavator and a french drain but 5' of snow prevents that. And honestly it's never gotten over 3-4" deep in the crawlspace and it dries out in spring but I am just annoyed by it

 

[maple1]

I would likely get the type of pump that is raised up out of the water. On a stand pipe. I had a submerged one that failed once, water got in it.

 

[ABMax24]

This is here at a canadian store but something like this should do the trick. Pump starts at 1-3/4" water depth.

Burcam 1/6 HP Auto Utility Pump | Canadian Tire

Burcam 1/6 HP Auto Utility Pump is ideal for draining basements, spas, pools, flat roofs, window wells, etc. with automatic On-Off operation | Canadian Tire

www.canadiantire.ca

 

[zrock]

As long as the float is on a cord you can adjust the height of the water. They make a bucket for the pump that you can bury into the ground and helps keep the trash and mud out of the pump. O would also wrap it with landscaping cloth to help keep the dirt and mud out...

 

[rwhite]

As long as the float is on a cord you can adjust the height of the water. They make a bucket for the pump that you can bury into the ground and helps keep the trash and mud out of the pump. O would also wrap it with landscaping cloth to help keep the dirt and mud out...

Tried that, still not enough to activate in a 12" hole.

 

[rwhite]

Ended up going with a drummond 1/3 hp pump. It is adjustable but out of the box it comes on at 9" and off at 2" so I left it there. Looks like its adjustable from 5" to 10" to turn on and the off is also adjustable.

 

[peakbagger]

The life of pump is directly related to stops and starts. Anything you can do to extend the run time really helps. In an industrial application I had sump pump that had to pump up to another building that was lot higher so the output pressure was quite high for a sump pump. The pump used to fail every spring and flood out the area it was supposed to protect. I got involved and looked at the root cause and we put in level control in the sump and used a variable speed drive to run the pump. I think it had 5 or 6 years on it before the plant got shut down.

If you want to get creative, a rental rock drill is not that expensive for day. Drill a bunch of holes at a 45 degree angle and then use some "slow dynamite" http://www.demolitiontechnologies.com/expanding-grout-technical-info.

 

[rwhite]

The life of pump is directly related to stops and starts. Anything you can do to extend the run time really helps. In an industrial application I had sump pump that had to pump up to another building that was lot higher so the output pressure was quite high for a sump pump. The pump used to fail every spring and flood out the area it was supposed to protect. I got involved and looked at the root cause and we put in level control in the sump and used a variable speed drive to run the pump. I think it had 5 or 6 years on it before the plant got shut down.

If you want to get creative, a rental rock drill is not that expensive for day. Drill a bunch of holes at a 45 degree angle and then use some "slow dynamite" http://www.demolitiontechnologies.com/expanding-grout-technical-info.

That pump states a 14" min hole. I was able to get 13". Then I just put the in a milk crate. I did increase the hole size to 4x4 to increase the volume. There is no actual running water and when the snow melts I'd guess it will fill that hole 1/2" per day. It's just more of an accumulation problem as the water just perches on the clay

 

[Highbeam]

And honestly it's never gotten over 3-4" deep in the crawlspace and it dries out in spring but I am just annoyed by it

Sounds like pumping in 6” of clean gravel will solve your problem. The builders started doing that here. The water is still there but it’s under the vapor barrier and out of sight.

 

[rwhite]

Sounds like pumping in 6” of clean gravel will solve your problem. The builders started doing that here. The water is still there but it’s under the vapor barrier and out of sight.

I was curious about that. You can tell its something that should have been done during construction. Do they just run it through the stem wall vents? My only access is a 2x3 hole inside the garage. I have enough room to run a wheel Barrow under there. Id have take it apart and put back together under the house. My back could probably handle 4 loads a day!

 

[Highbeam]

I was curious about that. You can tell its something that should have been done during construction. Do they just run it through the stem wall vents? My only access is a 2x3 hole inside the garage. I have enough room to run a wheel Barrow under there. Id have take it apart and put back together under the house. My back could probably handle 4 loads a day!

Honestly, I’ve only seen it done on new construction before they build the house on top of the concrete stem wall. I have known people that pumped concrete with a line pump down a hose that was inserted through a footing vent hole under a finished home. Poured a “rat” slab. I do believe that pea gravel can be pumped this way too.

At least you know it will never flood up to wood. Even if a sump pump failed, no damage will occur. Some people aren’t so lucky and a failed sump pump can cause major damage.

 

[rwhite]

Everything I read is all over the board about gravel in the crawl space. I can certainly see where it would help. The reality is if the pump solves the water problem that I'll never do it. Only had 1 major screw up on the install. I thought I had the discharge hose situated where it would drain. I was close but it still froze. Pump ran for a day and half before I realized it. Thawed it out and got the drainage the right way. Apparently didnt hurt the pump at all.

 

[shoot-straight]

whatever you do spend a little extra and put a check valve in your hose. my first home purchase (also my first with a crawl) had terrible grading and drainage problems. one day i smelled something burning, finally figured out it was the sump in the crawl. the previous owner didnt put a check valve and it got stuck in a pump- then trickle back cycle. it burned up the pump. literally. worked for quite a while until that perfect scenario happened.

what a $hitty job he did. i spent many hours under that house with my raingear on, sliding around on playdoe like clay digging trenches with a folding army shovel. the crawl only had about 2' from ground to joist so it would drain properly to a central location.

 

[Highbeam]

That’s the second point of filling with clean gravel. 1) you can’t see the water, it’s not at the surface just like ground water 2) if the water rises enough to come near the top of gravel it will flow to the low spot where your sump pit is. No ditching needed.

 

[Sodbuster]

I have a sump pit in my basement and in the Spring and after a heavy rain, it will run about every 15 seconds. I have a new pump and pipe sitting right next to the pit so a swap out takes about 1 minute. I did switch to a pedestal style pump, so I could extend the cycle times. it's risky though, because in case of a pump failure, or power outage, I don't have much time to catch the problem. For my birthday, my kids bought me a thing called Pumpspy. It sends an alert to my phone if the power goes out, or the water gets too high for any reason. That along with my Watchdog alarm gives me a little piece of mind.

 

[bigealta]

5 or 6 years ago, I had a flooded walkout finished basement in utah with spring melt and rain combination. After that i had to do something but did not want to open the slab to install a sump pit and pump. I turn off power when not there and don't like the idea of an opening now in the slab. So i did an Exterior pit lined with spackle buckets. I put in a pump just like yours and ran pvc down the driveway. I'm trying to lower the ground water level to stop the seep up thru the slab from hydrostatic pressure. I also figured out i can set up a siphon with a garden hose that dips into the outside pit. So i don't even need the pump. Just let it siphon for a month or 2 if runoff is high that year. That siphon actually works great.

 

[Harpooner]

I had a similar problem with the basement of my parents' house, and I tried to change the entrance to dig a hole before the entrance of the basement, but nothing helped. However, one night I started searching for solutions, and someone wrote that the sump pumps helped them, so I started looking for a company or a platform to help me with it. I found these guys who suggested the best sump pump check valve and even offered me some options with different functions and price ranges. A winter ended, and the basement it's perfect; not a single drop entered it, which means I took the best decision.