Sump Pump Pit bottom - what should the pump sit on?

Question

I working on 2 sump pump problems. 1) I believe my sump pump was installed too close to the top of the pit. 2) I strongly believe that the pump has been sucking pea gravel installed under the pump. 

My pit doesn't appear to have a hard bottom. The house is 50 yrs old.  The pit was filled with pea gravel and the pump's base was sitting on a small piece of 2" thick cinder block, 23 inches below the top of the pit.

I dug out the gravel and discovered what I think is the end of the pit's side, 32" below the pit's top. The bottom at this depth is mud. The vertical distance from the pit's bottom to the turn in the pipe is 57". (Pit is 14" across.)

The manual for the pump says that the pump pit should be cleaned out of any rocks, gravel, etc. 

So... do I need to put pea gravel in the bottom for some drainage reason? If so, how deep, and do I cover this with a larger piece of block to keep the gravel down? Or can I drop a 12" piece of paver onto the mud?

kca678 · Accepted Answer

Clean pit out. remove pea gravel and all the mud you can scrape out. buy a bag of ready-mix concrete and mix the contents of the bag with water as directed. pour into bottom of pit. you will want the new floor of pit at least 4 inches thick. the floor should extend up into pit at least 4 inches that is if you dig out mud and can see the bottom of the pit then you should pour enough concrete to fill the pit to 4 inches above pit bottom. let setup for a day and then reinstall pump

eloise · Answer

Yes you need to clean it out before you install a new pump.Also where is the debris coming from? Ideally there would not be any debris entering pit.Sometimes a little bit of mud ,sand ,and or gravel will enter pit ,but not very much.Is there a proper lid covering pit .Besides keeping out debris the lid will prevent a small child from falling in.A baby just drowned in an uncovered sump pump pit in our town last month.The bottom of pit should be same material as side of pit(example;If side of pit is plastic then bottom should be plastic).The pit should have a bottom unless it is homemade or if the bottom was cut out.

TnA Inc. · Answer

I would clean the pit and set the pump on some concrete pavers so that there is no gravel directly below it

this would set it in the air 2-3 inches
make sure the float (if it has an external one) moves freely

Bibs · Answer

I suggest that you put that 2" piece of cinder block back in the sump.  Put you pump back on the block.  Do not put any gravel back in the sump, because it could get sucked in the pump intake, and damage your pump.

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Sump Pump Pit bottom - what should the pump sit on?

4 Answers