On Sun, 25 Sep 2011 20:56:31 -0400, "Dimitrios Paskoudniakis"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 25 Sep 2011 12:58:09 -0400, RBM wrote:

On 9/25/2011 12:08 PM, AT wrote:
I have moved into the area, for which half of the houses hae sealed
sump pump area. Question is:

1. Reason for sump pump to be selaed (Is it only radon, or something
else)

So your dog or baby won't fall in?

2. What should be possible mitigation plan, should sealed sump pump
disfunction during a hurricane downpour.

Even if it's not sealed, what are you going to do? The time to do it
is now.

My house is 32 years old and the sump pump is always big enough**,
except once 4 years ago, I came home and there was water on the
laundry room floor, where the sump pump is. I heard the pump running,
ran outside to see if the output was clogged, but it wasn't. It was
pouring loads of water out, but this one time, not enough.

The water dried up and I thought I would go from a 1/3HP pump to a
1/2HP pump iirc. But then I thought about instead getting a battery
operated pump, which woudl also supplement the current pump. Then I
thought about getting 1/2hP AND the battery pump. Then I thought
about getting a water-powered basepump, which doesn't use electricity,
but doesn't, IIRC and I'm pretty sure I do, have the output of even my
1/3HP, but that's okay because I could keep t he 1/3 in place, or
change it to a 1/2.

Anyhow, the choices confused me and I figure I have maybe 24 years
before another time that the pump isn't big enough.

Check with neiighbors who have lived there longer to find out the real
chance of flooding (and to find out why it is sealed) , to find out
how big their sump pump is, if they know, to find out how to unseal
the sump when you need to. Especially check with n'bors whose house
is at the same elevation yours is.

I'm at the end of the row of townhouses, so it's clear to the eye that
my house is the same elevation as the one next door, and the two next
to that are a little higher, and everyone else is higher still. The
first four are the only ones out of 109 who have a problem when the
stream overflows the manhole for the sanitary sewer and that backs up.
(Well not anymore for me.)


** (not counting the potential for a power failure, which has never
occurred when the water table was higher than my basement floor)

Thxs

AT


You would not seal a sump pump. If it's a below ground tank, with a
bolted on cover and pipes coming up through rubber bushings, it would
likely be an ejector pump for sewage. If you're looking at a 4" PVC duct
coming out of the concrete, it's probably a radon system. The blower for
the system could be outside the house, or in some remote location

Sumps _are_ sealed for radon mitigation.

My sump cover is sealed and has a PVC pipe coming out of it through the roof
for passive radon removal. What's dumb about the setup is that the cover is
sealed but has a 2" diameter circular hole in it.

That's okay. Only the small radon will get through, and there isn't
much of that.

I tested the basement for radon about 20 years ago and there was none.
I hope they don't decide to stop meeting at the malt shop and meet
here.