Sump Pump Installation near you

A sump pump handles water that reaches the foundation from the ground. It doesn't fix poor grading, overflowing eavestroughs or cracks in the walls, so if water comes from above ground, deal with that first; a pump kept busy by roof runoff that could be directed away works harder than it should.

Where the pumped water goes is regulated locally. In Gatineau, it is illegal to connect a sump pit that collects foundation drain water to the sanitary sewer; the pump has to discharge into the ditch along the property or onto natural ground at least 1.5 m from the house. Toronto asks that a sump pump installed under its basement flooding subsidy program empty onto a permeable surface, such as a lawn, garden or gravel, at least 2 m from the foundation wall. Quebec City's guidance for sump pump systems directs the discharge to a private storm sewer connection, a percolation well or a ditch, with a check valve on the discharge line.

Because the rules differ from one city to the next and change over time, ask your municipality before the work starts and hire an installer who will obtain any permit it requires. Quebec City's guidance also calls for a licensed contractor who is a CMMTQ member for the plumbing and a CMEQ electrician for the electrical connection. Wherever you live, aim the discharge away from neighbouring lots, sidewalks and driveways, where the water can cause disputes or freeze into a sheet of ice.

In a house without a pit, the installer first finds a low spot where the weeping tile can be reached, often near where water has come in before. They saw and break out a section of the concrete floor, dig below the level of the drainage, connect the weeping tile or a new interior drain to the basin, bed the basin in gravel and patch the concrete around it. When a pump in an existing pit is being replaced, that work is already done and the job centres on the pump, the float, the check valve and the discharge.

The discharge pipe rises from the pump, passes through the check valve and leaves the house through the rim joist or the foundation wall, then carries the water far enough away to meet local rules and keep it from running straight back to the foundation. An exposed outdoor line can freeze in winter, so installers slope it to drain and keep the outside section short or removable. The pump goes on its own properly grounded outlet, with any new circuit left to an electrician, and the job ends with a test: the pit is filled with water until the pump starts, empties it and shuts off cleanly.

The storm that fills the pit is also the storm most likely to knock out the power, and a pump without electricity offers no protection at all. A battery backup adds a second pump, usually set in the same pit with its own float, that takes over when the main pump loses power, fails or can't keep up. Its battery has to stay charged and be replaced over time, as the manufacturer recommends, and it runs only as long as the charge lasts.

A water-powered backup has no battery to wear out, but it uses drinking water while it runs, needs good water pressure and won't work on a private well; Quebec City's guidance specifies that sump pumps can't use the pressure of the water system as their energy source and must be powered by a generator or a backup battery during an outage. A portable generator can keep the main pump going through a long outage, but only outdoors: Government of Canada flood guidance says to operate portable generators at least 6 metres (20 feet) from homes and buildings and to direct the exhaust away from windows and doors.