Sump Pump failures and Personal Experiences?

Being a mason in Michigan i will tell you it makes no difference where you live as to a wet basement. the water table isn't what causes it. its how the surface water runs through the ground. I've had to put a sump crock in a crawl space that was next door to a full basement with no crock and dry as a bone. its all about clay content and natural drainage. as far as this house is concerned, it really sounds like a money pit. I'm curious as to how fast it flooded or if it is tiled around the footings or under the floor. if it was a matter of a few hours, you might want to get a 12 volt backup system for it. I know where i live the power is known to go out for 2 days at a time and its usually not in good dry weather. the pump system should be the responsibility of the seller to fix being they still own the house. hopefully it isn't a finished basement and you can just squeegee the water back into the sump crock i mean after all its just a giant floor drain. good luck though, sounds like you'll need it.

The sump pump is cheaply replaced for about $75.

The big problem is to prevent a freeze outside where it drains into the yard. What happened is that drain point in the yard froze and the pump didnt fail, the drain line became blocked with frozen ice. Make sure you check that because a frozen drain pipe from a sump pump is a serious matter as it doenst allow the pump to operate. Find out exactly where it froze and make sure it never ever freezes there again.

One more point. I bought a home several years ago and it had a sump pump that ran a lot. In fact during a heavy rain, the pump could not keep up. The culprit---- roof drains from the house flooded out the perimeter of the home and that drained into the sump pump . The fix----about $750 worth of digging for flex drain pipes from the house downspouts to about 20 feet out into the yard from each downspout..

This is a serious matter why this pump or pumping of water failed. Dont let them give you some baloney answer but pinpoint the exact reason why that water didnt get pumped out.

Replacing the sump pump is not that expensive, it the damage that was done to the basement that may be pricey. If it is a finished basement with sheet rock walls and electrical wiring all should be removed and replaced. The sheet rock can develop black mold, the wiring can develop high resistance connections, and if the wiring is old, paper insulated wiring, the possibility of a fire is very high. I know of several house fire that were caused by partial or incomplete replacement of electrical wiring that was submerged.

Like the others said ,longs it did not do any damage to dry wall sheet rock ect or any wiring i would clean it up with a dry/wet shop vac clean it good and get yourself a carpet drying fan to dry left over water up to prevent mold.also agian try and find out the cause.In out other house in detroit ,on our sub pump in it is tapped into the sewer line however i heard was not up to code now days.You can call insurance company who will hire a conpany like servpro but that will increase your rate, so depending on how bad the damage i would weight it out.and use your judgement if you dont want to have to worry about it and have it done right just have the insurance cover it.If anything try and have the seller pay the deductable or go directly through servpro and have a reasonable agreement between you and the seller.We went through that company when the water pipes our cottage upnorth broke.Floors were completly damaged, water in Hvac floor vents,they did a great job replacing it all (walls,painting,recarpeting,floors) and cleaning everything up.i wouldnt think, any more than $1000 , not postive ,our damages was about $7,000 but had alot more repairs to do.Good luck.

MY FIRST THING WOULD BE WHY DID THE BASEMENT FLOOD? BESIDE THE PUMP FAILING..I HAVE OWNED THIS HOUSE IN WI.. 7 CITY BLOCKS FROM LAKE MICHIGAN ,,1 1/2 BLOCKS FROM A RIVER THAT A BOAT BUILDER SENDS 200 FOOT BOATS HE BUILDS DOWN THE RIVER,. I HAVE NEVER HAD A SUMP PUMP.. MY BASEMENT IS DRY ENOUGH TO HAVE A LARGE REC ROOM IN.. FIND OUT THE SITUATION AS TO WHY THIS AREA IS SO WET..THERE ARE PLENTY OF WARM DRY HOMES FOR SALE NOW... CHECK THIS OUT GOOD..SAVE SOME FUTURE $$$$