When your basement floods, whatever the cause, the first problem you face is how to get rid of all of the water. Once you’ve solved the problem, you want to be absolutely sure that it never happens again, and sump pumps may be the answer.

What causes basement flooding
If the natural subterranean ground water, or water table as it is known, rises above the level of your foundations, you may experience regular basement flooding. The positive hydro-static pressure of the outside water against your foundations, can force the water into your home, and it may not be cost effective to consider exterior waterproofing to prevent this. A much more economical answer would be to install a method of automatically collecting and removing any water that gets in, before it can do damage. This is where sump pumps come in handy.

How they are connected
The beauty of sump pumps, is that they are installed below the floor surface of your basement, so that water is collected and pumped out before your home floods. The pumps are connected to a suitable GFCI electrical outlet. GFCI stands for Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter, which means an outlet that can prevent electrical shock in wet locations such as a flooded basement. These outlets have two buttons, a test button and a reset button, and it is recommended that they be tested regularly to see that they are functioning correctly.

How they work
There are a number of different types of sump pumps. All work on the basis of excavating a suitably sized sump basin into which you place a container, usually of plastic, metal or lined concrete construction. Any water which starts seeping into your basement collects in the submerged sump pit area, and is pumped outside and discharged far away from your walls where it can’t cause any damage.

Submersible and Pedestal sump pumps.
Sump pumps come in two main varieties. With a submersible type, the pump motor and impeller are situated below the water level. These have several advantage, in that they are silent, and the water keeps the pump motor cooled. They do however require a larger pit, and where this is not possible, a pedestal sump pump may be used.  Here the entire pump is situated above the water in the sump basin, so the space requirements are much less.

Automatic sump pumps
With these sump pumps the water level in the sump pit will automatically trigger the pump into action, causing any water above that level to be pumped out through suitable hosing, and exiting the house. The alternative is too have a manual system which would have to be operated whenever necessary to get the job done.

Backup systems
In the event of a power failure, even the best designed system will fail to work, so there is the option of installing a battery driven backup system. This requires a trickle charge installation that will keep the specialized battery, fully charged, so that it is always ready in the event of a power failure.

Whichever system you are interested in, we can supply and install it to give you full protection against basement flooding. Call us for advice as to the system best suited to your requirements.
Anchor Waterproofing