mapleman wrote:
We have had water come in our basement (under the walls and across the
floor) whenever there are very heavy rains--rains that become the lead
story on the six o'clock news due to lots of flooding in the area. We
have had water come in on all four sides, and this has happened about
four times in the eight years we have lived here. Our house was built
without drain tiles or a sump and several contractors have suggested
adding interior drain tile and a sump to take care of the
problem(symptom). The house is a fifty year old ranch (about 1100 sq.
ft.) and a drain tile test showed no tile. The grade around the house
doesn't seem to be an issue. We are having the tile and sump work
done in a little over a week (followed by radon abatement work since
we are already ripping things apart).

I have purchased both a primary and battery backup sump pump to be
installed in the sump and would like some feedback on my purchases.
As a primary pump I picked up a Flotec FPSC4550A 3/4 hp (5150 GPH) at
Home Depot. It comes with a limited lifetime warranty, is supposed
to be virtually silent so it won't wake you at night, and be two
times more energy efficient (I guess compared to their previous
model).

As a backup I bought (on eBay) a Basement Watchdog "Big Dog"
BWD-12-120C AC/DC Battery Back-up pump. (3500 GPH) that is supposed to
run for 7.5 hours continuously or "for days" intermittently if the
power is out. It has battery diagnostics so if the battery is old or
has problems, your first warning of the problem is not the basement
flooding.

The pump(s) would need to lift the water about 10 feet, and then it
would go under the floor joists 15 to 18 feet before being discharged
outside. I understand both the vertical and horizontal runs will
reduce the effective GPH capacity. I really don't know how many GPH I
might have to deal with (though I recall the water swirling around the
floor drain the first time I discovered the problem!)

What I have tried to do is buy good quality pumps that should be able
to handle anything that might happen (maybe "overkill", if that is
what I have done, isn't necessarily a good thing?). But if we are
going to spend the money for the drain tile installation, and then to
re-finish the basement, I don't want to "go cheap" on the sump pumps.

Do my purchases make sense for my situation? Any comments, thoughts,
or real-life experiences that can be related would be appreciated.

Well I would say your choices make sense. You can never cover 100% but
what you have planed will cover near that. If I had any question it would
be with the battery back up unit. I don't know your area, but it really
depends on local conditions if a battery back up unit is worth while. It is
not uncommon for power to go out at the time a lot of rain hits. How long
the power may be out and how long heavy rain hits your area should be part
of the decision. I don't have a back up as power outages are very rare in
my area and don't often relate to high water.

One other factor that is as important as the practical statistical part
and that is the human factor. If it makes you feel more secure, that in
itself is worth a great deal.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit