Got a call from a friend, another family has a cellar with water in it. Wants to pay me to pump the water out. I've never paid for cellar water pumping.
Who's paid for cellar pumping, and what's the going rate?
- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .
I would call a local plumbing company and ask them what they would charge. If it is for a friend, I would just charge whatever it actually cost me out of pocket to do the pumping.
A 20 or so gallon/minute sump pump, which would work for this modulo leaving a half inch or so, is about $75 at any of the standard sources. [a]
You didn't say how large the basement is, but let's call it 20 feet by 40 by 5 feet of water.
That would be... 4000 cubic feet -> 30,000 gallons.
At 20 gals/minute that's 1,500 minutes, or 25 hours.
[a] that was the number listed on our unit's box. And while I haven't actively confirmed it, that certainly looks about right.
If you have that much, call the fire department. In some towns they will pump it out for you.
ask them what they would charge. If it is for a friend, I would just charge whatever it actually cost me out of pocket to do the pumping.
You know, that sounds like good wisdom. Might be a friendly thing to do. And, it could save a lot of house damage, with water in the cellar.
- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .
I asked Ed, who was the man who called me last night. It's Jim's cellar, and Ed didn't know if there was an inch of water, or a foot, or how deep. That's one wild card. If it's a foot, then my half HP sump will take several hours. Might need to set up the pump, and return hours later. Wish I had more information.
- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .
Totally worth a call. Why we pay taxes after all. Jim is in a city, not sure about the FD. But what is the harm to ask?
- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .
I have no idea of the going rate.
From your later posts, you don't have any idea of how much water, how deep it is, how the water got there, etc. And, if you were to use some type of sump pump with a float to shut it off when the water level gets too low, you would need to know if there is a low spot where you could place the pump. Otherwise, you'll still end up with water still in the basement that the pump can't pump out.
If the cause of the flooding is a broken pipe or other issue that happens to be covered by the homeowner's insurance policy, he could file a claim and let the insurance company pay a restoration company to pump out the water, do the drying and cleanup to prevent mold, and repair any damage.
A handyman friend of mine borrowed a pump that I had so he could pump water out of someone's basement caused by a broken water heater. My pump didn't have a float switch, so I told him to watch the pump and shut it off when the water level got too low and it began pumping air. He didn't do that and he burned out my pump -- duh.
Last night, after a couple other calls, I did manage to get to the house, and see first hand what was going on. About half the cellar had water, and that was about an inch and a half deep. The water was black, and opaque. Even with a flash light, could not see through the water.
Fortunately, there was a sump pump crock where I was able to locate my sump pump. The blue discharge hose is very sensetive to folding and kinking, shuts down the water flow when that happens. 75 feet of discharge hose was enough to get the water out the cellar, and nearly to the street.
The people said they had a relative come in with a powered drain snake, but that snake got caught on some thing and the belt slipped.
After I pumped out what we could get, she asked if they could do laundry. I asked them to try the faucet in the laundry sink. They did, and the water promptly came up the floor drain. I suggested they try the drain snake again, as the drain was still clogged.
There is still some water, maybe a few galons. A wet and dry shop vac (which I didn't have) would do that. Or a mop and buckets.
I still don't know what cellar pumping costs, so I used my labor rate from another trade.
- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .
Got it. At least you now know what the scope of the problem was and what the cause is. Since the water is backing up through the floor drain, they obviously have a drain line problem. I think they should have a professional drain cleaning company come out and do a drain cleanout. It will probably save them money in the long run since the equipment and people they have now weren't able to clear the drain.
I think that makes a lot of sense. My guess is that they will go to the rental place again. Second guess is that I'll never hear back and will never know.
- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .
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