Skip to content
Call now(365) 376-9113
Bench vise on a workbench

Call sheet: sump pits

Sump Pump Installation in Whitby

In a lot of Whitby basements the sump pump is the only thing between the groundwater around the footings and the carpet. Installing one properly is about more than the pump.

Talk to a plumber

(365) 376-9113Call now
  • Licensed & insured trade work
  • Scope agreed before we start
  • Urgent calls triaged first

Signs you need this

  • Pump short-cycling or humming without moving water
  • Water standing in the pit after rain
  • Sewage pushing up through the floor drain
  • Check valve slamming after every cycle

Kit on the van, and the method

  1. Pit liner, check valve and union fittings
  2. Float switch and alarm tester
  3. Wet vac and pump-out hose
  4. Backwater valve access-lid tools

Before we leave: Hose-fill the crock until the float lifts, then time a full start, empty and shut-off cycle.

Why so many homes need one

Newer subdivisions in north Whitby and Brooklin commonly have foundation drains that discharge to a sump pit, which then pumps the water out to the lot surface. The clay soils across much of Durham drain slowly, and spring thaw or a long autumn rain can keep the pit cycling for days. Some older houses had their weepers plumbed into the sanitary line, which towns now push owners to undo.

Parts of a sound installation

  • The pit. A sealed liner with a lid, sized so the pump does not short-cycle.
  • The pump. A cast-iron submersible and a vertical or tethered float that will not jam against the liner.
  • Check valve. Stops the column of water in the pipe from falling back each cycle.
  • Discharge. Rigid pipe up and out through the rim joist, finishing well clear of the walls and short of the lot line or a walkway.
  • Power. Its own receptacle near the pit, with no extension cords.
Field note. Discharge that splashes a metre from the wall often runs straight back to the weeping tile. Extend it, and in winter make sure the outlet cannot freeze shut.

New pits in older basements

Where a house has no sump and water is entering at the floor-wall joint, adding one means cutting the slab, digging a pit below the footing drain level, connecting to the drainage, and pouring new concrete around the liner. It is messy, but it is often the most effective fix for a damp basement whose exterior grading is already reasonable.

Testing before we leave

We fill the pit with a hose until the float lifts, watch the pump start, check the discharge outside, listen for the check valve to close, and confirm the pump stops at the right level. Then we show you how to do that test yourself each spring and autumn.

Backup power

Storms that dump the most rain also knock out power. A pump that cannot run when the lights go out is only half a system. See battery backup sump pumps, sump pump repair and our sump pump maintenance field note.

Call (365) 376-9113