Two frequent topics of discussion on our plumbing blog are tips for effectively maintaining your plumbing system and advice on purchasing reliable plumbing fixtures. Both of these are certainly essential in ensuring that your plumbing system survives the daily wear and tear, thus limiting how much you have to spend on plumbing repairs. After all, it’s not hard to see how much each of your various plumbing components (faucets, water heaters, etc) are used on a daily basis.
In this week’s blog post, we’re going to talk about how you can be proactive in keeping an integral plumbing component functioning properly and that happens to be your sump pump. The sump pump is the perfect example of something designed to help prevent plumbing emergencies from occurring. As alluded to in the opening paragraph, regular maintenance will help make sure your sump pump is ready to go when needed and purchasing a quality product can be key in avoiding any operating defects! To add to this, while you don’t necessarily need to be a sump pump expert as a homeowner, it doesn’t hurt to have a general understanding of what causes sump pumps to fail. No matter how good a sump pump may be, they’re not built to last forever and will eventually need to be replaced.
With that all being said, let’s discuss a few of the things that lead to sump pump issues!
Losing Power
Whenever you have a sump pump installed, it’s always worth it to consider having a battery backup installed too. Why is this so important? Well…when you have a storm come through that’s accompanied by heavy rainfall, there’s a chance the power could happen to go out. While a power outage isn’t ideal for a number of reasons, you definitely don’t want to lose your sump pump in the process! A battery backup will add that extra touch of security and ensure you’re protected even if the power goes out. In any case, we’ve included this section first because an easy cause of a sump pump not working would be a power outage (and no battery backup installed to save the day).
Old Age
Just as we mentioned in the opening section, no plumbing fixture is going to last forever. Yes, purchasing one made by a reliable brand and maintaining it properly will make a big difference in getting the maximum number of years out of it, but the daily usage will gradually wear on it. This is true about water heaters, toilets, showerheads, garbage disposals and so on! When it comes to sump pumps, a general lifespan estimate that you’ll see is 10 years. If your sump pump is nearing that age or older, you may want to keep an eye on it and make sure to test it regularly. Keep in mind that this estimate is dependent on a number of factors, including whether it’s been maintained correctly and how often it’s been used. Every situation is different, so you’ll want to take those variables into consideration! Nonetheless, old age can be the reason for sump pump failure.
Lackluster Installation
Another item that will impact just how effective a plumbing system is would be the professionalism of the plumbing services with the original installation. As you can likely guess, this is extremely important as one small mistake can make a big difference! Particularly with a sump pump, where there are a number of different pieces tied to a complete sump pump system, you’ll want to make sure everything is installed correctly. This includes the sump pump itself, along with the discharge piping. Don’t forget to check whether the piping leads away from the home’s foundation too!
Issues With the Discharge Piping
One term that we just mentioned in the section above was “discharge piping.” This is certainly an important component of the entire sump pump process. It is responsible for taking the water that has built up in the pit and transporting it outside. However, if you were to have a problem with these pipes, it’s not hard to see how this could cause an issue with how your sump pump operates. With that being said, we will discuss examples of how this could happen. First, there could be debris in the lines that starts to form a blockage, thus restricting a sump pump’s ability to push the water through. A second potential scenario would be a frozen line. Given that the Kansas City area is no stranger to some frigid temps in the winter months, it’s always important to be mindful of how this winter weather could create some troublesome situations for your plumbing system. Long story short, if there’s anything stuck in the discharge line (no matter if that’s debris, ice or anything else), this will certainly impact your sump pump’s ability to do its job!
Miscellaneous Sump Pump Problems
Thus far in this week’s blog post, we’ve discussed a variety of issues leading to sump pumps not working properly. Listed above are some of the more prominent ones and should likely be what you consider first when you start to notice that there are issues with your sump pump. However, that doesn’t mean this is a fully comprehensive list. This is why it’s important to have an experienced plumbing professional that you can call, as they’ll be able to troubleshoot through unique situations and figure out the root cause of the problem.
What might this entail with a sump pump? Well…truth be told, it could be a number of different things. The sump pump could fall on its side and not be standing upright. There could also be an issue with an individual component, such as the float switch. This integral piece is in charge of determining when the pump should kick on and start transferring water out of the pit. Given that this essentially acts as a water level sensor, any issues with it could definitely hamper your sump pump’s ability to do what it’s intended to do. While each of the items we mentioned above are rather straightforward, there’s also a handful of general maintenance tasks that can help prevent any issues from popping up. What could this include? It could involve cleaning out any debris that could accumulate in the sump pump pit. Another great maintenance task is to simply test out the pump from time-to-time and make sure it works as expected. All in all, as is the case with any other important plumbing component, it doesn’t hurt to check on them throughout the year and if anything looks out of the ordinary, reach out to your local plumbing professional.
Professional Sump Pump Services in Kansas City
Without a doubt, water damage can create some costly repair bills. As such, anything you can do to limit the odds of this happening will be well worth the investment. If you’ve ever dealt with any flooding in your basement, you likely know exactly what I’m talking about! From the priceless possessions lost to the repair process that follows, it’s always going to be a good idea to plan ahead and try to avoid this. With that in mind, a sump pump is terrific at helping minimize the damage.
Here at Stine-Nichols Plumbing, sump pumps are something that our technicians deal with on a regular basis throughout the year. Whether that be installing new sump pumps, repairing existing units or anything else, we have you covered for all things related to sump pumps.