FAQ

Sump Pump FAQs in Cincinnati

Sump Pumps

If your home has a basement or a crawl space, a good sump pump is an excellent investment to protect your foundation and your home from problems now and in the future. Without a drainage system and a sump pump, groundwater will accumulate around your foundation, putting pressure against the foundation walls, which may weaken them structurally. During heavy rains, water may leak into your basement or flood it, or get into your crawl space and form puddles on the floor. Wet basements and crawl spaces have very high relative humidity levels and are often a breeding ground for mold and dust mites.

The best sump pump for your basement is one that is capable of handling any groundwater, even during the rainy season and snow melt. We will inspect your basement and crawl space for free, and based on their findings recommend the right sump pump for your home.

When choosing a sump pump, it is important to know how much power it has, how many gallons of water it can pump per hour, whether it has mechanisms that prevent it from overheating and shutting down, and a working float switch that will not tangle. The sump pit choice and discharge line is also important.

The storms that flood basements tend to knock out power. For that reason, it is a good idea to have a battery backup sump pump to pick up the tab when the main sump is out of commission.

Unless you have a whole house generator to keep things running during power outages, it is an exceptionally good idea to have at least one battery backup sump pump system. We offer single and dual-battery backup systems that will help protect your basement

There are many reasons why a basement may have a working sump pump and still be wet. Those include:

  • The sump pump is not powerful enough to handle all the water coming in
  • The sump liner or sump basin is too small to contain all the water, so the basin overflows
  • The drainage system is clogged or collapsed
  • The sump pump was not installed in the lowest corner of the basement
  • The drainage systems was not installed with the correct pitch to divert all the water to the sump pump

This may be caused by a glitch in the float switch. It is not turning the pump off when the sump basin is empty.

That often happens because there is more water coming in. If you aren’t getting more rain than usual, there might be changes in the water table caused by nearby construction, changes in the city wastewater system, etc.

During periods of heavy rain, overworked sump pumps will run a little hot, even though they are submerged in the basin. A good sump pump however, like the ones we offer, will not run as often, and will be designed to prevent overheating and burnout.

Check to see if it was not accidentally unplugged or if the circuit breaker was not tripped. Check the float switch to make sure it is operating freely and not tangled or obstructed by debris. If these do not solve the problem, call us for service.

This usually happens when the float switch malfunctions. Call us for service.

If your sump pump basin doesn’t have a lid, debris and even small animals can fall in and start to smell. Standing water in the pit can also allow smelly bacteria to grow. If your sump pit does have a lid, the smell might be caused by the groundwater getting mixed with wastewater or sewage from the surrounding areas. Nothing that the we can’t diagnose and fix, so just reach out!

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Let Healthy Basement Concepts Install Your Sump Pump in Cincinnati, OH

Our entire team is certified to meet the highest standards. We provide premier service to all of our customers. Call us today from your home in the greater Cincinnati, OH area at 513-504-5985 for a free inspection and we’ll get started immediately!

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Healthy Basement Concepts of Cincinnati offers a variety of services from waterproofing to foundation repair, including crawl space repair, crawl space insulation, basement waterproofing, sump pump installation, bowing walls, structural cracks and foundation settlement repair.