Sump Pump Installation question

[Ahoragi]

Got this question for anyone familiar with these. We had a local foundation repair and waterproofing company install a sump pump. They came, dug out a 3 ft trench for a grate in front of the basement door and then started digging the hole for the sump pump next to it. The hole filled with water and we pumped it for a good 20 min with my little electric pump till their truck arrived with a bigger pump. They pumped for about 30 min and then gave up, saying a sump pump will not work as this is too much water. When they stopped they had the hole dug 12 inches deep and there was 3" of water in it. I actually expected this because we just had over a foot of snow melt a few weeks ago and nonstop on and off rains the past few weeks, including all day yesterday. The foreman was sure that a sump pump would just burn out and halted the project. They filled it back with gravel and went to get cement. I snapped some pictures of the gravel one hour after sitting. No water rising up to that level of gravel.

I honestly do not know much about sump pumps but I thought the purpose of them was to get rid of the water that is under the foundation. Is there a limit to what they can and cannot do? I remember growing up in my dad's house and he had water come in the corners of the basement but a sump pumped fixed his issues. We don't have water coming inside so I thought we weren't as bad. I could be wrong as I said I am no expert here. Just wanted to get a couple other opinions.

 

[Whitenuckler]

Got this question for anyone familiar with these. We had a local foundation repair and waterproofing company install a sump pump. They came, dug out a 3 ft trench for a grate in front of the basement door and then started digging the hole for the sump pump next to it. The hole filled with water and we pumped it for a good 20 min with my little electric pump till their truck arrived with a bigger pump. They pumped for about 30 min and then gave up, saying a sump pump will not work as this is too much water. When they stopped they had the hole dug 12 inches deep and there was 3" of water in it. I actually expected this because we just had over a foot of snow melt a few weeks ago and nonstop on and off rains the past few weeks, including all day yesterday. The foreman was sure that a sump pump would just burn out and halted the project. They filled it back with gravel and went to get cement. I snapped some pictures of the gravel one hour after sitting. No water rising up to that level of gravel.

I honestly do not know much about sump pumps but I thought the purpose of them was to get rid of the water that is under the foundation. Is there a limit to what they can and cannot do? I remember growing up in my dad's house and he had water come in the corners of the basement but a sump pumped fixed his issues. We don't have water coming inside so I thought we weren't as bad. I could be wrong as I said I am no expert here. Just wanted to get a couple other opinions.

My last house which was built in 1947 in a city never had a sump pump. I never did figure out the drainage. When the plumbers blasted ot the floor near a wall we did see some clay tiles. I think there might have been some drainage to the street. However, they built an addition later on with a full basement. They didn't plan on a sump pump I don't think as it looks like they took a hammer and smashed a hole in one of the corners. That goes below the footing, about 3 feet deep, and looks like the perimeter drains feed in. If they put drainage pipe around your foundation on the outside, then that is what they are trying to intercept, and they would need to keep going . A sump pump 1/2HP with 1 1/2 pipe can pump water very fast, and you need a big hole. The people who built that foundation did not do a good job as it leaks even with a sump pump.

 

[Ahoragi]

My last house which was built in 1947 in a city never had a sump pump. I never did figure out the drainage. When the plumbers blasted ot the floor near a wall we did see some clay tiles. I think there might have been some drainage to the street. However, they built an addition later on with a full basement. They didn't plan on a sump pump I don't think as it looks like they took a hammer and smashed a hole in one of the corners. That goes below the footing, about 3 feet deep, and looks like the perimeter drains feed in. If they put drainage pipe around your foundation on the outside, then that is what they are trying to intercept, and they would need to keep going . A sump pump 1/2HP with 1 1/2 pipe can pump water very fast, and you need a big hole. The people who built that foundation did not do a good job as it leaks even with a sump pump.

I apologize but I am confused a little bit.

I don't know if there are drainage pipes around the foundation. They simply were going to install a drain grate in front of the door and a sump pump next to it to eject water that rises up to the concrete slab. The drain grate in front of the door is just in case water comes in from outside which we explained that the run-off from the farm fields flooded the left side of the property and they were just being prepared in case there was major flooding that hit the house. It was also a secondary drain in case a pip bursts in the basement. The sump pit container was a 3 ft tub, about 24" in diameter, maybe a little bigger. It was just a simple sump pump to remove water under the slab.

Our house was built in 1973, dead center in the middle of farm fields.

 

[EbS-P]

If the big pump didn’t lower the level then a dump pump that isn’t rated for continuous duty won’t either. They don’t want to sell you something that will fail. Had you done this during a dry time the pump may have been able to keep it would be overwhelmed during snow melt or large rainfalls.

A single sump isn’t the correct solution to mitigate this much water. If it’s not an issue now and hasn’t been in the past are you making something out of nothing?