water level in sump

[Marty]

Hi all,

I have been in my newly constructed house for about 4 months now. I have noticed that the water level in my sump in the basement never goes below about 8 inches below the top of my sump. The exception is when the sump pump kicks on which pumps out the sump. But the sump immediately refills with water squirting through the holes in the side of the sump crock down towards the bottom. The water continues coming into the sump crock until it is just below the point the sump would turn back on and then I guess the pressure equalizes and the water stops. The sump pump doesn't kick on again for a while, when the water level rises above the kick on point. I haven't noticed the sump pump running more than one would expect so it must take a while for the water to rise that extra few inches. The sump has a pressure switch rather than a float. Basically this is telling me that there is always water 8 inches or so under my basement floor that never dries out even with 2 weeks of no rain.

My builder has told me this is normal and will improve as more houses are put in with pumps that are taking water out of the ground. Six more houses have been built since then with no change in what I see in my basement. This is my first basement so I am clueless as to if this is normal or not. Is this a normal situation as the builder says? Please reply in the news group.

Thanks,

Marty

[user]

Yes, it's normal. You have a basement near the local water table or a spring. That being the case, you should probably look into getting a backup pump if you have anything stored in the basement.

And yes, your builder is full of it.

Maybe you should ask him where he thinks all the water that additional houses pump is going to go?

- Rich

[Pop Rivet]

Well, that's essentially the purpose of a sump pump: to keep the basement FLOOR dry. Depending on design, the pump may not be able to drain the water down much further even if you wanted to. There is normally water left in the sumps to be certain the pump never sucks air, which can burn out the motor. I'd say as long as it's keeping the water off the floor plus a little margin, then everythings' fine. If the pump were moved below the waterline it might never shut off, depending on the water supply there; sometimes they are practically rivers, and no, it won't hurt the house if everytnhing was done legit by a goode contractor. I think the advice to have a spare handy was great, even if it's just a cheapie to run long enough to get the other one replaced. Eventually, this one WILL fail, so ... be like the boy scouts; always ready.

Pop

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[default]

Either that, or the output from your sump-pump is goin somewhere that's immediately draining back into the sump.

[Travis Jordan]

It certainly could be. Common reasons for water below basement floor grade are:

Subsurface or ground water level (water table) is close to the floor of the basement. No gutters / or / rain water funneled out of downspouts too near the foundation. High humidity; condensation of atmospheric moisture on cool surfaces, i.e.. Walls, pipes, floors.