Sump Pump Concept Questions

dshuster

I am hoping someone can explain a couple concept questions I have about my sump pump.

I live in a townhouse and last month it rained 3 or 4 days straight. I had water in our basement and this happened the second in my the house (I lived in my place for 3 years). The water came into the basement bedroom which is in the back of the house. I did not have standing water, just really wet carpet. I did not discover this for a couple of days, but finally got it cleaned up by pulling up the carpet in the four corners and renting a carpet dryer.

The front or middle of the house (utility room) is where our sump pump is located. When I look in the pit I have two big black pipes coming into it, which I assume is the foundation drainage. In the pit, there was standing water and I realized that the sump pump did not work and replaced it. The first questions I have is:

1)I thought if the sump pump stopped working it would overflow the pit and I would have water in my utility room instead of the bedroom. Is my theory correct? It rained after that but not as much and we did not get any water in our basement. I am not sure if I should invest into a french drain.
2)In the back of the house, I found what I thought was a storm drainage. It was right under my downspout. The drain pipe was closed so I unscrewed the plastic cap and bought a little extension for my downspout and stuck it in there. I am not sure why it was closed and maybe it was clogged and thats why the previous owner closed it off. How can I get it checked or see if its clogged?
3)The water from the sump pump is discharged right in front of the house. Should I extend this pipe or should there be a drainage system that the pipe should connect to?

Thanks
-Dimitry

handy man88

1)I thought if the sump pump stopped working it would overflow the pit and I would have water in my utility room instead of the bedroom. Is my theory correct? It rained after that but not as much and we did not get any water in our basement. I am not sure if I should invest into a french drain.

- In theory, that is what should happen, but that depends on a number of factors. If your sump cover is sealed tight, water may not come through. Or, water may have filled just to the top edge and then it stopped raining. Therefore, there is head pressure because this level is above your drain pipes and that could be why your rear basement carpet got wet.

2)In the back of the house, I found what I thought was a storm drainage. It was right under my downspout. The drain pipe was closed so I unscrewed the plastic cap and bought a little extension for my downspout and stuck it in there. I am not sure why it was closed and maybe it was clogged and thats why the previous owner closed it off. How can I get it checked or see if its clogged?

- Typically, these drains do not dump into the sewer system, but instead, are routed to a location a distance form the house. You should locate the outlet, and once you do, just use a hose and spray water into it to see if water comes out the other end. I would imagine you could use a leaf blower and seal it good to blow out any debris.

3)The water from the sump pump is discharged right in front of the house. Should I extend this pipe or should there be a drainage system that the pipe should connect to?

- Yes, extend it as far away from the house as possible. You may want to dig a ditch to cover up the pipe extension.