TRIPLE Safe Sump Pump System Installation

This DIY basement sump pump install tutorial is all about how to install a sump pump system from start to finish. This triple safe sump pump system was installed in my basement by jack hammering out the concrete slab and installing multiple sump pumps at once. Bring Your Own Tools (#BYOTools 207).

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Material List:

CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Intro
1:11 - Site Prep For Sump Pump Install
2:55 - Sump Basin Install
5:54 - How To Install A Basement Sump Pump System
10:00 - Sump Pump Plumbing
14:04 - Finish Shots

[bgreen]

Nice video. One of the best things to improve pump performance that should be done is use larger pipe. The instructions typically don’t tell you but the knowledgeable folks in support will tell you using 2” pipe after the 1-1/4 adapter reduces friction and increases flow significantly.

[nope_not-showing-my-name]

Had same exact system in previous house in MA, had a drain around the entire perimeter of the basement. Three pumps, identical to these, not even a drop of water over 10 years until we sold the house. Highly recommended.

[sneakydemon]

I work for a pump control manufacturer. With your tiered system make sure you turn on the higher pump at least a couple times a year to prevent the pump from seizing up. Dual pump systems are great for redundancy but if the higher pump isn't "exercised" and seizes you likely wont know there is an issue until the first pump goes out. This is the reason why my company builds alternating control panels to increase the lifespan of the pump while also keeping each of them exercised.

[johnnyz]

Zoeller Sump Pumps recommend drilling a 3/8 inch ( maybe 3/16 “, I don’t remember ) vent hole or “weep” hole between the impeller chamber and the check valve to prevent air from becoming trapped inside the impeller chamber. Without this vent hole, the pump can become “air locked” and will not pump any water regardless of the level inside the pump well. Check the Zoeller installation instructions and look for vent hole or weep hole.

[davidwright]

I had the same situation as you with a ranch style house built in the 50's here in Illinois. The basement would flood when the ground got saturated with water thus push its way through the hairline cracks in the concrete floor. I became an expert in hydrostatic pressure. Installed a sump pump system and connected directly to the Village of Deerfield's storm sewer system at the street. Also had a French drain system installed to help relieve the saturation. Problem solved.

[bertbccfu]

In my setup at the end of the pipe i dug down 3' then dug a pit 3'long x 4 ' wide, i lined the bottom with 3/4 stone about 6" -1' deep then filled the rest of the hole with broken up cinder block, backfilled with more 3/4 stone to fill air pockets, ran my pipe all the way to the bottom of my makeshift leechfield, , one other thing i did was i cut the bottom off a five gallon bucket with a lid, buried that filled 1/2 way with stone, this served as sort of a inspection port/ vent, that way in heavy rain or after i could always check on drain make sure its doing its job, has worked tremendously, i topped it with loom, now back yard is not flooded when we get rain

[captainlandyacht]

This is a French well. Pumps out ground water for months. Then house will settle just a smidge. You'll have a bunch of space under the house for water to raise and fall. Good system, I built one if these in my last house with half a 35gal plastic drum. I've even used 5 gal buckets for this in small spaces.

[LINO]

Good call on the 3inch buried pipe. We have a high water table and sometimes both our pumps run simultaneously in the spring. I’ve kept the outlet from freezing, but I’ve had at least two cracks in the underground abs.
I’ve never seen the ice guards but that seems like a good idea too, although around here it might turn into an extreme water slide for curious chipmunks

[robertlevine]

We are currently replacing water-damaged drywall, framing, and cupboards. Some of these for a third time.

We have done almost everything physically possible to stop the water intrusion including, inside and outside drainage and sump pumps, wall linings inside and out, French and surface drains, and gutter and downspout collection. We have installed three 6" PVC drains that lead to a culvert.

To prevent water damage on the interior of the basement we are replacing water-damaged drywall, MDF, and wood with composite sheet boards made of polyurethane foam and fiberglass sheet composite. We are using Bluewater20 (1/2") and Bluewater26 (3/4") composite boards from Coosa Composites.

Coosa board is used primarily as a substitute for plywood for the manufacture of watercraft. Coosa board is about 30% lighter than plywood. It does not absorb water so it doesn't rot, and it isn't susceptible to mold, algae or fungus. It is dimensionally stable and requires no special tools.

[johnjingleheimersmith]

The bottoms of those outflow pipes nearest to the sump pumps should have a small angled hole drilled into them to prevent hydrolock. I believe Zoeller even recommends that you do this in the manual. Also, I would personally recommend ziptying off the float switches of the pumps (at least the bottom pump) and installing a solid state switch instead. The contacts on those things are 90% of the reason those pumps fail. They aren't substantial enough and will wear out quickly. Solid state is better anyway since you can adjust the height of pumping unlike the float switches.

[ayellowbeard]

Our 1940s (western WA) house had a sump already and an old Lincoln pedestal pump when we purchased it over 8 years ago and though the pump still worked I decided it would be good insurance to replace it with a Zoeller submersible. Meanwhile the discharge pipe ended right outside the foundation and so I dug a trench out about 20 feet and terminated it into a lined and perforated drywell and filled it with river rock where it could filter the water back into the soil right next to the garden instead of next to the house where it could end up underneath the slab. I also tied the downspout in that corner of the house into the outside discharge pipe and installed a check valve onto the inside pipe so water wouldn’t back up into the basement. Fortunately our soil perks very well and I’ve never seen a drop of moisture coming through the the basement walls (knock on wood) which is great because I want to build a game room down there. Eventually I’ll get around to adding a secondary pump with a backup battery and in the distant future wrap the outside of the foundation with a membrane guaranteed to keep water from ever soaking though.

[Doing_it_right_the_first_time]

7:27 Folks, I am a very competent Plumber here in the northeast part of the country (CT) and we have gotten rain this year… An understatement / lots and lots of rain! Well so far I’ve changed out three of those stupid systems that this guy was demonstrating around the seven minute and 27 second mark; they are junk! Those Zoeller pumps are not that great. Those switches on them fail often and that back up pump is pretty much good for an aquarium, that’s it! A lot of these guys put pipes on them that are 7 to 10 feet in height, and those pumps will not pump adequately with that kind of head pressure. I do not get any endorsement from Liberty pumps but that’s all I use because they are so much better than those Zoeller brand pumps. If the customer wants a battery back up then I use a 1200 W inverter with automatic transfer switch coupled with an Interstate or Deka brand deep cycle battery and then marry that to a Liberty half or three-quarter horsepower sump pump. So much more reliable than the junk that these guys are selling.
Edward H. – “Integrity, Plumbing, Septic and Drain“ out of the Clinton, CT USA area.

[kevinshea]

I watched plenty of videos on this subject and this one is by far is exactly what I need to do! That Sump pit never came up with my shopping searches! Nice instructional video!

[robertfahey]

Subscribed! Excellent video showing the flooding problem and solution. Your new sump setup seems well thought out for redundancy and capacity. Like you, I learned more than I want to know about ground water intrusion and sump pump operation here in RI. Just a couple of things which you may have already addressed, make sure there are air bleed holes drilled in the exit pipe above the pump, but below the check valves (without it, the pumps could get airlocked and can’t pump). Also I would suggest placing the battery on a shelf installed on the foundation wall.

[balzacq]

I'm planning to add a sump pump to my West Seattle basement this summer. I'm below street level so I can't pump it out to the gutter, but 25 feet from the obvious exit point is the lowest spot in my yard, so I'm going to dig out and install a drywell and overflow emitter. I know that's just pumping the water table back to the water table, but that's fine as long as it isn't seeping into my basement.

[FrankHurt]

I've got three sump pits in our house, the previous owners installed: two inside, one outside in the yard near the foundation.

The pits inside the house were professionally installed, and share many of the features shown in this video.

The single best thing you can do though, is prevent water from intruding your foundation in the first place (if possible). In our case, it was a grade issue; the slope of the yard ever-so-slightly went toward the house in several places, exacerbated by landscaping which retained the water with landscaping fabric. The house may have settled over 40 years or the grade was never correct, but the end result was rains and snowmelt inevitably directed toward the house, and thus inevitably INTO the basement.

After we bought the place, we tore down the deck, tore out 400+ feet of landscaping including igneous rock and thick plastic beneath, along with poured concrete edging and sidewalks which sloped toward the house. I hauled in 14 loads of fill dirt and banked it against the house, installing window wells to compensate for the added elevation against the split-level house. I capped it off with erosion control blankets and seeded prairie grass and prairie wildflowers all around. All downspouts now have ten foot extensions too.

It was a monumental effort, but the result is that I no longer fear rain or spring thaw like I had! We've not had even a hint of humidity in the basement ever since. Neighbors tell us that the previous owners dealt with basement flooding every single spring over the ~40 years they owned the property.

Moral of the story: try to keep water from flowing anywhere near your house in the first place!

[ChrisKuwait]

I had the same pump installed and it lasted 1 year before the switch rusted and stopped working. Replaced the switch and installed a Liberty SJ10 water back up pump. 6 years now with no issues.

[ronaldberger]

I have the same system for 20 years. I also had an internal french drain that feeds the same sump. I also have the basement defender, which tests the system pumps every day and it connects to my phone app as well.

[billthompson]

Having an existing sump that failed, for me, the fernco is the best feature of this system.

It was installed on the system that failed. This allowed me to size the crock, buy as big a pump as the crock would allow, and a dual backup system for it.

Installation took ten minutes. I measured the existing pipe length from the old pump to the fernco and cut my pipe two inches longer than that to allow for error.

I glued everything up and saw that I just needed a half an inch less pipe. I cut it. Slipped it into the fernco and tightened everything up.

It literally took ten minutes.

I highly recommend this system and this type of install.

[walnutcontractors]

Interesting - thanks for the video ! I rolled my own using pump spy 1500w inverter, walmart deep cycle battery, electronic floats and $60 1/6 hp utility pumps. I get the same rain as you. I have two primary pumps that alternate between active and inactive with electronic timer switches. Each pump will run occasionally to decrease the chance of them seizing. I have a 3rd pump that has the electronic floats set higher then the primary and secondary, if water ever reaches that level it could kick on to help if the flow is too large but mostly so that if the active primary pump has failed then it serves as the backup. The HC6000 has a hi and low which allows fine adjustment of start and stop. I also oversized my catch basin to minimize cycling. The HC6000 also notices if a pump starts drawing more current and alarms to alert that the pump might be on the verge of failure. I keep a couple brand new 1/6 HP pump kicking around for when one does fail - been running for a couple years now.