wrote in message
oups.com...
On Mar 21, 3:44 pm, "EXT" wrote:
That is a serious problem, a disaster waiting to happen.

I would dig around the deck, if you can, to see if the pipe travels
anywhere
away from the deck.
Question - what would this show me? If the water is immediately
draining back thru the drain tiles, wouldn't that mean the problem is
occuring near the foundation, which is under the deck? Just trying to
understand your diagnosis of the issue.

It is simple really, I cannot imagine anyone stupid enough to intentionally
drain a sump pump back into the foundation weeping pipes so that the water
just runs in a circle. So there most likely is a pipe that drains away from
where it comes out the wall. This will drain to some location away from your
house but the outlet may be plugged. The pipe near the foundation may be
sheared off, split or detatched allowing the water to short circuit back to
the sump.

Or, if you don't want to spend the time, or cannot access the area,
install
a replacement pipe where you can open a space through the wall and across
the ground to a suitable location to discharge the water. This should
bypass
the old pipe since you cannot access it. Keep the slope steady, rigid
pipe
such as ABS or PVC, whatever is available for drains in your area is
easier
to install sloping than flexible piping.

Unfortunately it won't be that easy, because the area where the sump
is housed is completely surrounded by deck (it curves around the
house). I'm thinking that I will have to pry up boards, possibly
destroying them, to get to that area. That's probably the plan
anyway, but it would be nice to have a better idea of what might be
going on down there before I cause all of this destruction to get to
it.

Often repairs are not easy and require a lot of changes and tearing down to
just get to the problem. That is the way it always seems to work, so this
may be an opportunity to make any repairs or upgrades to your deck. If there
is a way to bypass the deck you may want to look into the possibility. At
least see which is the least work.

In general, can you explain to me what you are thinking is going on?
Saying that it is a disaster waiting to happen, but with no
explaination is causing me a lot of anxiety but not really much to
help me understand it. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the help, but
I just need a bit more info.

The disaster is the water is just running in circles, with possibly some
going elswhere, and the bulk returning through the foundation drainage. In a
major storm, which happens more often now than before, the pump will not be
able to accommodate the volume of water if most of it simple runs back into
the sump. The result will be a flood, maybe small, possibly major.

By the way, it certainly worries me (a lot of sleepless nights), but I
also know its been doing this for quite a while, and during some
pretty serious storms. For all I know, the issue could have been
going on for the entire 28 years since the home was built. As far as
I know - there is no sign of flooding.

I am certain this has not been happening for the past 28 years, something
has happened to the discharge pipe under the deck that needs fixing.
Possibly it started small and now is leaking much more water. Look into it.


Thanks,
Jeff