In this episode, Adam explains how some homes require permanent water pumps with automatic detection to deal with home foundations that sit beneath the land’s water table.
It’s time once again for the “Crack Man Podcast” hosted by A1 Foundation Crack Repair. I’m Darren Kincaid here with the Crack Daddy himself, Adam Tracy. This podcasts provides expert basement waterproofing, concrete repair, and preventative maintenance tips for homeowners and businesses. A1 Foundation’s valuable insight will help avert a disastrous flood within the basement, health problems associated with water infiltration, and protect your biggest investment….your home. The topic of today’s podcast: When is it time to install a sump pump in your home?
Narrator: So, you have got your sleeves rolled up today, huh Adam?
Adam: Yes, we do. In fact, that will be a good topic because today we are installing a sump pump in a home over in Franklin.
Narrator: Alright. Well as a sailor, I tend to think of a sump pump like a bilge pump. Water will always find the bottom of wherever it is at and collect to the lowest point and will eventually need to be pumped out. So, when do you know it’s time to install a sump pump in your home? When you find a lake in your basement?
Adam: Yeah, it’s a good analogy that you use there with it being like a bilge pump. The common misconception that people have though is that they are designed so that water will flow into it from the top. Really what we are trying to do is take the water pressure from underneath lower and making it so that it doesn’t push to any flaws in the foundation. A lot of times we will get the phone call from somebody saying, “I have a crack in my foundation, and I called up a company and they say I need a sump pump.” And a sump pump may not be the right solution for that particular issue, because a sump pump, while it does collect water from the top if you leave it open, it’s primary goal is to really take the water pressure off them lower.
So, areas where you have a really high-water table, or you have water coming where the floor and the wall meet across a large portion of the foundation is a really good candidate for seeing a sump pump installation. In this home that we are in today, the gentleman had a bunch of floor cracks, and all around the floor cracks it would always have this dampness. He wouldn’t be getting a flooding of the basement, but he always had dampness around these floor cracks. Whether it was in the summer or in the wintertime, we always must determine if he has a high- water table in the area. And so, what we are going to do is we are going to break the floor, we’re going to dig down and set a pump that sits lower than the floor. And the idea of the sump pump is that you’re creating a natural low point for all of the water that’s already under the floor to go first rather than trying to force its way out through any cracks or where the floor and the wall meet.
So it’s the first point in the area, way below where it becomes an issue to ruin your home, and you’ve take it out and you correct it safely outside. So, it’s a very good opportunity to use this in those kinds of situations.
Narrator: Awesome. Well, thank you Adam for explaining when it’s time to install a sump pump in your home. If you have a basement water problem and think you need a professional, or, if you’d like more information on foundation repair and waterproofing topics, please visit A1FoundationCrackRepair.com or call Adam or Adam at (866) 929-3171. Or you can email them at info@a1foundationcrackrepair.com. Thanks for watching and keep that basement dry.