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Plumbers of Pennsylvania
Plumbers of Pennsylvania
Plumbing · Pennsylvania
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Sump Pump Repair

A pump that's already running flat out has nothing in reserve for the thaw, so have it checked while the basement is still dry.

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When this becomes an emergency

What a pro does

Pennsylvania basements are deep, which is exactly why the pumps matter here. A full basement dug eight feet down in ground that holds water puts the floor below the water table for part of the year, and the pump is the only thing keeping it usable. The heaviest work comes in late winter, when a snowpack across the ridges melts into ground that's still frozen at the surface and every bit of it runs sideways into foundations. The plumber checks the float switch first, because a stuck or fouled float is the single most common failure, then the check valve, since a valve that isn't holding lets the discharge column fall straight back into the pit and doubles the pump's workload. Where the discharge actually ends matters as much as the pump. A line dumping against the foundation feeds the same water back. A line frozen shut at the outlet during a cold snap makes the pump run against a closed pipe until it burns out. Where the pit is filling faster than the pump can clear it, the fix is capacity or a second pump rather than repair.

Frequently asked questions

Because the source is the ground, not the sky. When a winter snowpack starts to melt, water moves through the upper soil while the deeper ground is still frozen and can't take it, so it runs along the foundation and into the pit. That thaw period is the hardest week of the year for most Pennsylvania pumps.
It keeps the water in the vertical discharge from falling back into the pit when the pump stops. When it fails you hear the pump shut off followed by a rush of water returning, and then the pump starts again a moment later. That short cycling wears a motor out fast.
It's a real risk here, particularly on a line running across an open yard or one that ends in a low spot where water stands. Once the outlet ices over the pump pushes against a plug, and in a house with a deep basement that usually gets discovered as water on the floor.
It's worth considering where a basement is finished, because the storms and heavy thaws that fill a pit are the same events that bring lines down. A pump with no power during the wettest hours of the year is the failure mode that does the most damage in Pennsylvania houses.

Sump Pump Repair?

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