Sump Pump in Basement Window Well

[Donald]

So the water that's pumped from a sump pump in a wet basement. Would you think it's classified as storm water or ground water?

 

[nickaluch]

@racer12306, I'm glad I found this discussion. My son just recently bought a home, and he has a very similar problem, so I'm anxious to follow this discussion, and see what I can learn, to help him remedy the situation.

He has a basement window that the seller had to replace, because it was broken. We learned that the old window probably broke, because the window well floods, then the water freezes in the winter, and broke the window. The window well is poured concrete, including the bottom. But a hole, about 5" round, has been busted in the bottom of the window well. And someone has tried to seal the window well to the foundation with spray foam insulation. They have also put a plastic dome over the window well, like the one @Zee09 gave a link for.

All this hasn't stopped the window well from filling with water, though. There is a rain gutter down spout about 6-8' from the window well, and my son has put a downspout extender on it, in hopes of helping. It looks like the real issue is the grounds slopes towards the house, and not much can be done to change that. The best solution seems to be a French drain, to run the rainwater into the front yard, but that would be an expensive project for my son.

I have wondered about some type of pump on a float switch, so I hope someone here gives Racer some good ideas.

He's a young guy he can do the French drain by himself. I did one many many years ago lots of digging but do it while you're young and able. After work every night I would dig that trench for a hour or two before I knew it I was done then did the rest over a weekend.

 

[racer12306]

@racer12306, I'm glad I found this discussion. My son just recently bought a home, and he has a very similar problem, so I'm anxious to follow this discussion, and see what I can learn, to help him remedy the situation.

He has a basement window that the seller had to replace, because it was broken. We learned that the old window probably broke, because the window well floods, then the water freezes in the winter, and broke the window. The window well is poured concrete, including the bottom. But a hole, about 5" round, has been busted in the bottom of the window well. And someone has tried to seal the window well to the foundation with spray foam insulation. They have also put a plastic dome over the window well, like the one @Zee09 gave a link for.

All this hasn't stopped the window well from filling with water, though. There is a rain gutter down spout about 6-8' from the window well, and my son has put a downspout extender on it, in hopes of helping. It looks like the real issue is the grounds slopes towards the house, and not much can be done to change that. The best solution seems to be a French drain, to run the rainwater into the front yard, but that would be an expensive project for my son.

I have wondered about some type of pump on a float switch, so I hope someone here gives Racer some good ideas.

If you want to get something that is at least a temporary solution, this is the pump that I have running now.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/smartpond-300-GPH-Fountain-Pump-with-Low-Water-Shut-Off/1003091322

I used the 3/4" adapter and tubing because the 1/2" is a push in connector and the 3/4" is a screw on.

 

[tnt_motorsports]

Over the last several years (first significant occurrence with during a hurricane in August 2020) the window wells for the small half windows in my basement have been filling up with very heavy rain or several days of moderate rain. Now that I know about it, I've been keeping an eye on it and bucketing water out of the wells to keep it from coming into the basement. If it reaches the window it will start to come in.

Currently I have an outdoor fountain pump in each window well. They're 300GPH and auto off with low water level, so they're kind of acting like a sump pump. They're quite impressive for their size and were only $50 at Lowe's. They worked great the other week when we got a good 3 inches of rain. We'll see how they did when I get home from work today because it rained pretty good yesterday and it's been raining all day, so I anticipate they had to work today, I don't think they did yesterday.

I know the drainage system in the wells are shot, can't begin to imagine what it would cost to fix "properly." While I like what I have, I want to build something more reliable and something that will work when the power is out. Been looking into sump pumps with battery backup. Would need to run an exterior outlet to the area (fortunately only about 12ft from the panel) and plumb a nice looking drainage system for the pumps.

Couple choices that I'm seeing are the all in one sump pump with emergency as one unit or using a UPS type setup. CyberPower does market a UPS for sump pumps now. The catch to that side would be building a box to house the electronics with some ventilation and such to keep temps from going crazy. I could stick with what I have and go with the UPS option on these little pumps (only draw 1/2A) but I know I'm using them outside their intended purpose. I'd like something more built for the purpose when it comes to protecting my house.

Anyone have to do this? Additional thoughts to consider?

FWIW we had a similar problem when we bought our current house 15 years ago. The previous owner was lazy and allowed leaves to cover the drains in the bottom of the window wells. He had a sump pump in the window well. The leaves were the root cause of the problem. They were blocking the drain!

Step 1 is to make sure the drains in the bottom of the window well are open and working. Yes this can be an expensive repair but it is the proper repair, IMO. These drains should run down to your tile around your house. This should then funnel into your sump pump if you have one.

Step 2 put a window well cover on to minimize the amount of water getting in.

This will solve your problem regardless if you have power or not. No power your window well pump won't run and you are back to square 1.

Just my $0.02

 

[racer12306]

FWIW we had a similar problem when we bought our current house 15 years ago. The previous owner was lazy and allowed leaves to cover the drains in the bottom of the window wells. He had a sump pump in the window well. The leaves were the root cause of the problem. They were blocking the drain!

Step 1 is to make sure the drains in the bottom of the window well are open and working. Yes this can be an expensive repair but it is the proper repair, IMO. These drains should run down to your tile around your house. This should then funnel into your sump pump if you have one.

Step 2 put a window well cover on to minimize the amount of water getting in.

This will solve your problem regardless if you have power or not. No power your window well pump won't run and you are back to square 1.

Just my $0.02

I check and clear debris from the well periodically, generally don't get much out, but I do keep it clear. I did pull a dead bird out one time, that was weird. Step 1 is definitely the best solution. What's wild about this house is it has never had a sump pump. It has a hole, but no pump in it's 27 years.

Window wells are covered currently.

 

[SHOZ]

Ugh. Had that problem in my last house. Drainage systems in window wells were shot and I resorted to pumps like you described. All is well until the power goes out. Couldn’t wait to get rid of that basement . Someone described a basement as digging a well and then spending all your time trying to keep water out of it. On a slab now and never going back. Clear covers were ineffective. Water would seep in from the bottom.

I live in a flood zone on sandy soil. For decades I always blamed the open drain in my crawlspace for the flooding when the river came up. So I bought a self sealing drain cover that would prevent backflow. Checked it out with the first flood and before the water came up the drain it had come up through the dirt floor. So when I look out and see water over the driveway, that 's where the water table is, duh.

So I got some new neighbors who wanted to build next to me. They were going to put in a crawlspace but with a high floor due to the flooding. They wanted to put everything utility wise in the crawlspace. I warned them not to and they became unfriendly. They ended up buying and upgrading a nearby house.

You would have to have a swimming pool type liner to keep the crawl space dry out here. New zoning requires vents that will allow free flow of water when the river rises and you get current. And new crawlspaces they put in sump pumps and not open drains. It's a lose lose situation. They get sandbags to prevent the surface water from flooding the crawlspace but don't realize it's not coming from the surface.

 

[Zee09]

We got the worst rain I have ever seen here last night.
Like in 6 decades. I hope racer survived.
@walterjay

 

[andrew_j]

I am so thankful the builders in 1910 had a clue on how to locate a house on property. Every new home around me built in 1980s up has water issues as some half baked engineering company and likely general contractor did not follow basic water flow (goes downhill to low spot) building out neighborhood.

The guy behind me has 4 ponds built recently(so many dump trucks hauling anway) and little bridges to go across as basement/home was flooding.

They bought home for $2.5M with water views.

 

[racer12306]

We got the worst rain I have ever seen here last night.
Like in 6 decades. I hope racer survived.
@walterjay

I know the little pumps put in some work yesterday and the basement was dry last night. I didn't even think to check this morning to make sure everything was fine overnight.

Crazy rain again today and still an inch of rain to go.

 

[walterjay]

All good here. Only had half inch of rain. Fortunately for me even during the most severe rainfalls I stay completely dry. My former home had water intrusion so when I built I did it in such a way as to stay dry. No sump pump needed. I drain the house by gravity to daylight.

 

[Zee09]

All good here. Only had half inch of rain. Fortunately for me even during the most severe rainfalls I stay completely dry. My former home had water intrusion so when I built I did it in such a way as to stay dry. No sump pump needed. I drain the house by gravity to daylight.

I have no sump either as my shop is a bi-level

 

[RhondaHonda]

I’d rent a mini excavator from Home Depot for $450 for the day and dig a trench, bury a pipe in some clean rock and cover it back up. I’m not even old but hand digging stinks, especially in rocky soil. You could even use it to dig up the window wells and make sure they drain properly.

Everything else is a band-aid.

 

[dumkid]

Ugh. Had that problem in my last house. Drainage systems in window wells were shot and I resorted to pumps like you described. All is well until the power goes out. Couldn’t wait to get rid of that basement . Someone described a basement as digging a well and then spending all your time trying to keep water out of it. On a slab now and never going back. Clear covers were ineffective. Water would seep in from the bottom.

I wish there was more basements in Arizona. The ground is dry and cool, perfect for a cellar for storage and you could suck the cold air out of the basement to cool the house.

 

[eljefino]

I am so thankful the builders in 1910 had a clue on how to locate a house on property.

All the "good land" gets consumed first as a town expands. Eventually with enough technology the soggy stuff can be made to work... kind of.