Sump pump crock

[buggybuilder]

A number of years ago I had a plumbing firm put in a black plastic crock for my sump pump. When they installed it they drilled a lot of 3/8" holes in the bottom and lower sides of the crock. They said the holes would fill with water and keep the crock from popping out of the floor. I am now pumping thousands of gallons of water that I need not pump.
I talked to a fellow at the sportshop the other day and he said he was a plumbing contractor and no way was this the way to do it.
Now my question is, what can I plug the holes with? Any ideas? I really don't want to replace the crock if I don't have to. To give you an idea of how much my pump runs: it is zero degrees out (Wisconsin) and I do live in a low area and the pump runs on an average of every 4 to 6 minutes.
Ideas and help please.

[Gofaaast]

Raise your pump or adjust the float level. It sounds like you might not have a pump that has this option.
You could get some rubber plugs to drive in the holes. This is a project for a dry time though and won't help you now.

[slim1836]

Sounds like a job for Flexseal. :grin:
I had a garbage disposal that started leaking and sealed it with Flexseal, perhaps it will work for you also.

Slim

[runfiverun]

the outside temp and the under ground temp are not related.
it has been below 0 a bunch this winter and many people in town are having water in their basements.
we had a bunch of rain and a couple of snow and melt storms that dumped a couple of feet.
all that water is making it's way to the bottom under the frozen ground line.
the farmers think it's great, those with basements ain't so happy.

I would go down and look at your pump.
if it is emptying and then refilling quickly you got water to be moved.
if you plug the holes in the bottom is there another way for the water to get to the pump?

[tomme boy]

Find what size hole they drilled and get a wood dowel and beat it in the holes. Or you can get under water epoxy and fill the holes with that. Should be able to get away with just one hole left open.

[MT Gianni]

Your pump is pumping ground water, is it dumping it back out on the ground or a long way off? If the water wasn't entering the holes in the pump bucket where would it go? Would it continue on an underground pathway or just rise to enter your house? Right now it is preventing a water build up entering your house, before you "fix" it you need to know what will happen when the water stops getting pumped out. I believe that if the holes are plugged or if it was only for a basement water overflow, the ground water would enter the basement, crawlspace or location the pump is.

[1989toddm]

I am inclined to agree with R5R. I work for a plumber and we have a customer who has an identical situation from what you described and his pump runs on average every 30 seconds to 1 minute. Varies from winter to spring but yes I think you have a lot of ground water.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[1989toddm]

If you do plug the holes, I would agree leave 1 open. No use flooding your crawl space if you can help it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[buggybuilder]

I don't have a crawl space but have a full basement. The cement basement floor is tiled underneath. The tiles are dry or have very little water in them. Pumping a lot of ground water that I need not pump.

[Geezer in NH]

Shut the pump off and watch the tiles and basement fill. Just a suggestion but expect BAD results.

Best cure is French drains around the whole foundation draining the water you are now pumping away.

[Steelshooter]

I had that problem in my house, the pump kept running. Tracked it down to the main water line leaking in the front yard. If you plug the holes in the pot let us know where all that water went to.

[country gent]

If the holes don't let the water in to the pump then it may raise and run over the floor to it. Not only how often does it run but for how long. If its ground water your pumping and the outlet dosnt run far enough or to a tile to carry it away you maybe pumping the same water over and over. We put a 4" field tile around Dads basement just below the basement floors level. Tied the eves into and it runs to a pump station ( had to get some lift) and to a field tile that carries it to the ditch. His basement sump no barey runs and only for a few minutes at a time. The tile around the house removes most of the surface water and water from the eves before it gets to the basement.

[KYCaster]

Shut the pump off and watch the tiles and basement fill. Just a suggestion but expect BAD results.


Geezer beat me to it. If you don't pump out the water, where is it going to go?

Jerry

[GhostHawk]

Where is the water going to? My guess is something broke, came apart and you are cycleing the water. Or, you have a very high ground water level and not pumping it is NOT a good idea.

Just turn your pump off for an hour while you sit and drink coffee. Watch the levels.

Common sense rules. So think first, not about the power saved, but about trying to clean up a flooded basement.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

A number of years ago I had a plumbing firm put in a black plastic crock for my sump pump.

...SNIP
So, I'm assuming this pump running a lot is a new problem?
You mention it being installed a number of years ago.
Now you are a good 400 miles from me...But I ask you, did you have a wet fall (lots of rain) like we did in Glencoe?
Did you have the crazy December rains like we did in Glencoe?
Glencoe's soil is very saturated, I suspect if there is a fair amount of snow and early spring rains, that Glencoe will have some serious flooding.
my 2¢ is, keep the pump running, keep them holes in that Crock, make sure your discharge is far away and down hill from your basement.
Good Luck.

[RogerDat]

While I sit a bit higher than my neighbors my sump runs almost never and their runs a lot. Difference is my downspouts all have plastic tile lines running from down spout away from house. Sump pump dumps in drain that runs in a line down hill and away from the house. All of the roof water or sump water is directed to at least 10 feet and in one case 25 feet from the house. Water softener drains in crock so that line goes a long way to get all that water far away.

Pump is only running because water is there to be pumped, will help if you can direct water away from foundation but if the water is there not pumping is probably not a good option.

[NyFirefighter357]

Your sump pump is saving your house from flooding. Is there any way to daylight a pipe from the basin out to lower ground or a street "sewer" basin? How far away are you pumping the water now? Sounds like you really need to dig around the outside of your house and install footing drains to daylight. Also moving the downspouts away from the foundation will help a lot. That water will build up hydro static pressure and come through your floor.

[Multigunner]

The Title of this thread if spoken sounds like the cursing of a man so mad he is incoherent.

[MaryB]

Make sure the check valve in the sump pump isn't full of bugs or other debris. If it holds open all the water you just pumped up and out will flow right back in when the pump turns off.

[Plate plinker]

I worked on a house that had water issues like this once. The F Tards that tiled the foundation should have had their nuts ripped off. They ran perimeter tile into the basket? Instead of out to the ditch were it belonged. Not to mention they went about a foot lower than they should have with the foundation. I guess they didn't have a transit. You need to get the water into a tile and move it with gravity if possible. Odds are if you plug those holes you will build pressure somewhere and water will come up through the floor. I used red dye to figure out what was done wrong on the job that I was on. My fix was with the excavator we had a 4" tile running to that ditch about 200 feet away.

Sounds to me like you are pumping a lot of water out of this place. How many gallons per minute do you have to pump to keep up?

BTW I have set a lot of basins and never ever drilled holes in them. That is the dumbest thing ever.

We also never had a basket pop out of the floor since they are uncased in concrete around the top. If they have water under them like a lake house might we just set them and pour some water inside so they can float. or set a trash can full of dirt on top to hold it while we pour the floor. These clowns were incompetent.


Good luck I feel for you.

[labradigger1]

Do a chlorine test to verify it is not potable water leaking. Do a dye test to verify its not sewage.
Use hydraulic plug powder to work into the holes.

[GhostHawk]

^ Just thought of that one, any chance you have a water main service line feeding that pump?

Mine was on the other side of the basement, I had a small river flowing across the floor so it became pretty obvious what the cause was.

Fix the problem, not the symptom. Plugging the holes will not fix your problems.

[rancher1913]

if its a water main on a metered connection you should notice higher than average reading. if its a well you should notice the well pump cycling a lot. I would not plug the holes, the water hydrolic forces could do serious damage to your basement. if raising the pump does not stop the constant cycling then you need to leave it be and let it do the job it was installed to do.

[chambers]

I think we need a little more information. Does any drain tile around the foundation come into this sump or any other sumps? What was the purpose of the sump to start with? Is there a floor drain connected to sump. How far does the discharge pump away from sump, is it recirculating? What was the natural level of water below basement floor? We have had a lot of rain/snow melt in the last 2-3 weeks here so it may act like spring time conditions.

[reddog81]

Lots of good suggestions here. Like others have said the pump running isn't the problem - the water entering the basement is the problem. You need to figure out a way to prevent the water from reaching your foundation. Is this isn't possible then just be thankful the pump is doing its job.

Checking for a leaking main, sewer line, and verifying the pump is working correctly would be good starts.

[DCM]

Lots of good suggestions here. Like others have said the pump running isn't the problem - the water entering the basement is the problem. You need to figure out a way to prevent the water from reaching your foundation. Is this isn't possible then just be thankful the pump is doing its job.

Checking for a leaking main, sewer line, and verifying the pump is working correctly would be good starts.

Very well stated! Plugging the holes will only Temporarily cure the symptom but will very likely cause much bigger problems.
If you do choose to plug the holes I would highly recommend getting rubber test tube type stoppers so they are removable.

[bedbugbilly]

It's posts like this that make me glad I built on top of a hill with good drainage - and that the ground is gravel

A lot of ideas but I do have a question that I didn't see asked unless I missed it. You have a basement with either block or poured walls and a poured floor. Your sump pump crock has holes which I'm am assuming let the hydraulic pressure of the ground water force the water into the crock through those holes. BUT . . what about the perimeter of your basement floor? It seems like if there is enough hydraulic pressure on the ground water to force the water into the bottom of your crock, it would also force water up through the joint between your poured floor and the wall/footer? Are you getting any water coming up in that location in any part of your basement?

As I said, in MI, I built my house on high ground and don't have a sump pump and don't need one. However, my folks house a mile away was on lower flat ground. It was built in 1947 and has block walls and poured floor. Dad put in a poured sump pump pit when he built the house and in to that, the washing machine drained as die the laundry tub sink, then the water was pumped by the sump pump out to a "dry well" a distance from the house. The perimeter of the foundation is tiled for drainage. We had to put soil pipe on the ends of the gutter downspouts to get the rain water/snow melt away from the house or else it would goe into the ground and sometimes up between the walls and the floor. A heavy rain would do it for sure every once in a while. The sump pump pit was solid concrete- no holes as you describe.

So what I'm wondering is if the holes in your crock are allowing the hydraulic pressure of the ground water to force the water into your crock. If the water had no way to enter the crock, is there enough hydraulic pressure of the ground water to push it up between your wall and floor which I am assuming is probably at least 1 1/2 to 2 feet higher than where the holes are in your crock? If there is not much water in your drain tile, I kind of doubt if the holes were plugged it is going to increase the hydraulic pressure of the ground water around your house up to a point to where it would force ground water up through the joint between your floor and walls. Just a thought?

Good luck as I know how frustrating it can be.

[Kraschenbirn]

Having owned/operated a renovation/restoration business for over twenty years, I've installed a whole bunch of sump pumps...had a crew spent one entire summer putting pumps into a condos that should have had them installed when the complex was constructed. First off, your installer was correct in perforating the 'crock'; every sump pit liner I've ever installed - in both crawlspaces and basements - have either been perforated from the factory or had 'knock-outs' to allow water into the pit. Otherwise, sufficient water has to accumulate on your basement floor (or in the crawlspace) to flow in over the rim of the pit before it will be pumped out.

First you need to determine the source of the water. You say that the pit/pump was installed 'a number of years ago' so how long has this 'excessive' pumping been going on? If it's begun fairly recently, then, what's changed? As has been suggested, first thing I'd check would be my city water supply...is the meter running constantly, indicating a leak? Where does the line from the sump pump drain...how far away from your house? Could be that you've got a drain line failure and whatever is being pumped out is dumping right back into the groundwater under your basement/foundation...I had this happen on my own home a couple years ago. (btw...groundwater in Wisconsin doesn't freeze until around 38"-40" below the surface so outside air temp will have no effect on groundwater flow) Does you basement/foundation have footing tiles? If so, how/where do they drain? If you have footing tiles, it's possible that their outlet is clogged and groundwater is accumulating under/around you basement walls and floor. Those are the first areas that come into my head without actually seeing the site.

My advice would be to check (or have checked) the items that have been suggested here. The problem could be something quite simple or it may require the services of a qualified plumber. Either way, the advice you got from the guy in the sports shop is definitely questionable and I guarantee that plugging the holes in your pit line will cause more problems that it will cure.

Bill

[daniel lawecki]

I worked at a house the water table was high. This basement had 4 crocks they came on every 45 seconds. Now we were putting a home theater in this basement that was second to none. Built a hose on grade that was the basement floor back fill and a lot of grading took a pond to get enough dirt. Do your homework first don't do a half *** job. Ifyor water supply had a leak you would see water perking thru your soil.