06/15/2026
Maintenance Tip Monday
Happy Monday. If your basement’s still dry after last night’s storm, somewhere under your house a sump pump just pulled an all-nighter and didn’t even get overtime pay. Probably a good day to check in on the unsung hero of your foundation.
Here’s the thing even though the rain stopped, that pump might still be working right now. The ground around your house is saturated, and groundwater keeps seeping into the pit for hours (sometimes a day or two) after a storm like that. So today’s actually a great time to watch it do its job instead of guessing how it’s doing.
Start outside. Find your discharge line and follow it to where the water actually comes out. A lot of homes we go into have that line dumping water just 2-3 feet from the foundation which means the pump’s basically just recycling the same water back toward your basement. It should be carrying water at least 10-15 feet away, or tying into a swale, dry well, or storm drain if your township allows it.
While the pump’s running, watch the flow at that outlet. Slow trickle or barely anything while the pump’s clearly cycling? That’s usually a clogged discharge line or a stuck check valve. A bad check valve means water falls back into the pit every time the pump shuts off extra cycles, extra wear, shorter lifespan.
Last one: if you’ve got a battery backup, unplug the primary pump for a minute (only while water’s still coming in, so there’s something to pump). The backup should kick on automatically. If it doesn’t, today’s the day to find out not during the next power outage mid-storm.
Five minutes today beats a flooded basement later.
