I just bought my first house, but I can't seem to understand how the sump worked. I'd like to make sure it's hooked up and ready to go should the basement ever flood.
When I first walked in, the pump was disconnected and raised off the floor. Next to it, was a piece of wood (badly) glued to the concrete floor. When I pulled that off, there was an 8" deep round hole, and at the bottom, a square tile sitting in dirt.
Looking around the sump's location, there's no power outlet within reach (though a 6" extension cord will let me plug it into the furnace's outlet), and more importantly, nowhere obvious to put the drain hose.
I pried the cover off and put the pump in the hole, for what that's worth.
Can anyone make sense of this setup? Hopefully I'm going in the right direction.
As far as other basement stuff goes, the realtor says the radon system and (maybe) the well pump are both new.
Best Answer
A sump pump is used to expel excess water that would otherwise flood your basement. It is seated in a well (sump) lower than the finished floor so that it can begin removing ground water before it reaches the floor. It usually has a ball float attached to a switch so that as the water level rises so does the float. The float activates the switch, at the set level, and the pump motor starts pumping. The water is normally lead to the exterior through an window by a corrugated (flexible) hose which is connected to the pump by a hose clamp. The water should be allowed to drain on the low side of the building so that it will not return. From what can be seen in your photo the wooden structure is what appears to be (I'm guessing) a brace or a stabilizer for the pump when it is running. Probably to keep it upright. I can see the white ball float in the well that connects by a rod to the switch. You may want to install a dedicated receptacle (GFCI) close to the pump or use a heavy extension cord to power it.