My neighbors and I recently got water in the basements from the heavy
rains in March. Afterwords a few had gotten estimates for interior
French drains.
One of my neighbors decided to dig his own pit and install a sump
pump. But there is no perimeter drain pipe on the inside walls, just
the pit and the pump.
My question is will the pump alone work to keep water out of the
basement? Or will it just keep the immediate area around the pit dry?

"Mikepier" wrote in message
...
My neighbors and I recently got water in the basements from the heavy
rains in March. Afterwords a few had gotten estimates for interior
French drains.
One of my neighbors decided to dig his own pit and install a sump
pump. But there is no perimeter drain pipe on the inside walls, just
the pit and the pump.
My question is will the pump alone work to keep water out of the
basement? Or will it just keep the immediate area around the pit dry?


It depends on how well thought out his installation was.

The choice of location and where the water enters the basement are two
important factors. A sump in the low point of the basement will drain all
the water once it has flowed to that area. You may still have a 1/4" across
the floor. If there is and there usually is, a particular point where the
water seems to enter then placing the sump in that area is a wise choice.

In either cause small channels can be cut into the floor of an unfinished
basement to drain towards the sump.

The be Be-Dry system as a retro-fit uses plastic channels attached to the
exterior walls to channel water to the sumps. We have the new construction
version in our home which channels any wall seepage below the slab to the
drains below.

Obviously for ground water the best course of action is to make sure all
yard grading directs water away from the house. Small swales in the yard add
to the look of the yard and are very effective in all but the loamiest soil.
Even in Maury silt loam they are somewhat effective.

Colbyt

"Mikepier" wrote in message
...
My neighbors and I recently got water in the basements from the heavy
rains in March. Afterwords a few had gotten estimates for interior
French drains.
One of my neighbors decided to dig his own pit and install a sump
pump. But there is no perimeter drain pipe on the inside walls, just
the pit and the pump.
My question is will the pump alone work to keep water out of the
basement? Or will it just keep the immediate area around the pit dry?

If in the right place what the pump (only) will do is keep any water level
in the basement under control. If its water table, the water is going to
come in but should gravitate towards the pump location. It's the setup that
I have--I have a pit with a sump pump. Water comes in around the basement
parameter as a result of water table but it flows towards the pump. One
whole area near the pump actually just gets surface wet--without that pump
the basement would surely get 4+ inches of water vs the 1/2-1" worst case.
MLD