[secutanudu]

Whenever it rains, one corner of my parents' basement is always very wet, and it appears to be coming up through the floor.

I assume a sump in that corner of the basement is the way to go?

How hard is it to do myself? What is the best/easiest way to cut through the concrete floor?

How close to the actual water problem does the pump need to be? If it's 5-10 feet away, would that still work? Or does it need to be right where the problem is?

How long can the pvc be from the pump? Ideally, I'd want to push the water out the opposite corner of the house, which would be about 40' away, so that the water would flow downhill when it exited the house.

Thanks.

 

[plumber666]

Seems to me, sealing the foundation and installing proper weeping tile and drain rock is the proper way to fix this problem.

 

[CplDevilDog]

Any number of tools will cut through the floor.

For speed, I like to trace my opening with the sump bucket. The use a hammer drill to drill a series of holes around the perimeter.

Cut an 'x' across the circle with a cutting or grinding tool. Depending on the depth and age of the concrete (older is harder) you can use Angle Grinder, Circular Saw or Concrete saw each equipped with the proper masonry blade and water supply.

Wear a dust mask for the hole ordeal and safety glasses. While Silicosis is not much of a concern for a one time job, it'll keep your boogers the right color. Use a sledge to break out the pie wedges.

Is there suitable electric supply nearby?

As for pumping water that far, use the pump in the sump to raise the water high enough to make the corner and then slope you discharge pipe 1/4" / foot to the exit.

 

[DangerMouse]

the hole ordeal

Was this a typo or a pun? :laughing:

Either way....funny.....

DM

 

[CplDevilDog]

Uhhmmm a pun. Yeah, I meant it. Pretty witty of me huh?

Darn spellchecker

 

[secutanudu]

Electrical supply is no problem, I can take care of that. I am concerned, after reading plumber666's comment, that we could install the pump and still have water problems...

 

[AllanJ]

How close to the actual water problem does the pump need to be? If it's 5-10 feet away, would that still work? Or does it need to be right where the problem is?.

Depending on how fast water comes in and how porous the soil under the house is, the pump pit needs to be close to the problem, probably never more than 5 feet from the furthest point of wetness. Farther than that and you need to add weeping tiles.

I would suggest digging the pit at least 18 inches square and 18 inches below the foundation footings and at least a foot in from the footings. If the plastic sump bucket you buy is smaller, line the pit with weed control cloth or other porous cloth and then fill the pit around the bucket with half inch or larger gravel. Trenches for weeping tiles, if needed, need to be 3 inches in from the footings for every inch below footing bottom they are dug, without disturbing the soil below footing bottom and between the trench and the footings.

Don't wrap the bucket or the weeping tiles with cloth, otherwise only the half inch circles where the cloth matches up with perforations in the plastic will conduct water and this greatly retards the collection of water to be pumped out.

It is best if the outlet pipe for the sump pump reaches maximum altitude as close to the pump as possible and then slopes down from there. Otherwise more water will fall back into the pit when the pump stops if the check valve does not close completely.