If you have home insurance, car insurance, or (most importantly) health insurance, you know it’s sometimes worth paying for things you hope you never have to use. We look at sump pumps the same way; a good sump pump is an insurance policy that you’re going to want to work 100% of the time you need it, even though, ideally, it’ll sit unused the vast majority of the time. However, once it starts raining heavily, you’ll be glad you installed one. Today we’re going to review what sump pumps do and simple maintenance you can perform to keep yours running in tip top condition when you need it.

What are sump pumps and why are they important?

Sump pumps are essentially automatic pumps that remove water from sump pits, which are small holes in basements and foundations, to remove water from the lowest levels of a home. The need for one will depend in large degree on the height of the local water table, the degree to which soil adjacent to the house drains vs. retains water, and the amount of heavy rains received in the area. Similarly, if you have foundation draining issues or weaknesses in your basement walling, you’re more likely to need a sump pump to get rid of water that would otherwise flood your basement.

There are also many homeowners and business owners (e.g., landlords and managers of rental properties) who install sump pumps as insurance against random flooding situations, whether from heavy rainfalls or burst piping throughout the home.

What kinds of sump pumps exist?

You can buy sump pumps in a variety of shapes and sizes, but they basically come in four configurations: AC-powered, DC-powered, AC/DC powered, and water-powered. They all work the same way; they discharge water out into your yard. Unlike sewage pumps, sump pumps don’t drain to your sanitary sewer system. Since they conduct water out of your home, they don’t discharge into any other water fixture in your home (e.g., a drain, toilet, or bath tub).

Because sump pumps can often sit unused for weeks to months at a time, following a basic maintenance schedule is a good idea to keep your pumps from developing problems without your knowledge.

What kinds of maintenance should I perform on my sump pump every 3 months?

Every three to four months, you’ll want to clean the inlet screen on your pump; this keeps debris like stones, leaves, and gravel from clogging your pump and keeping it from being able to take in water.

If you have a pump that runs on electricity (e.g., an AC pump, an AC/DC combination pump, or a DC backup pump), you’ll want to review the power cord and ensure it is still connected to a power source. This is important even for DC pumps and AC/DC pumps because both rely on AC power to keep the battery charged so it will be ready to work in the event of a power outage. If you have a water-powered sump pump like the Liberty Pumps SJ10 or Basepump HB1000-PRO, you can skip this step, as these kinds of pumps will work indefinitely without electricity.

Every few months, you’ll also want to empty a bucket of water into your sump pit. This is a quick and easy way of testing your pump’s float to make sure it kicks in and turns on the pump. If you want a more realistic simulation, you can feed water into the sump pit through a garden hose, as the more gradual filling will be a better representation of how water levels rise with flooding or rainwater. You can even take the extra step of unplugging your AC sump pump if you’re testing your backup; this will let you know if the battery is strong enough to drive the DC pump when it needs to.

What upkeep is important for sump pumps on an annual basis?

Every year, it’s a good idea to pull your sump pump from the sump pit in order to both clean and inspect it; this will help you spot any obvious cracks, leaks, or defects before they lead to pump failure.

At least once a year, clean the sump pit itself; they tend to fill with debris such as dirt, rocks, gravel, leaves, and other contaminants from groundwater. If these accumulate past a certain point, they will begin to interfere with your pump, making it less effective in the best case scenario and rendering it useless in the worst.

Flip through your owner’s manual if you installed the pump or had it installed since moving into your home; check for any requirements or maintenance schedules for the pump itself. You might need to grease certain bearings or add oil. If you don’t have a manual at hand, all is not lost; just use the Internet to find it as a PDF from the manufacturer. You’ll need the model number of the pump, which you can find from inspecting the pump as suggested earlier.

Once again, test the pump itself by running a water line into the pit and filling it to simulate flooding. This is perhaps the single most important bit of upkeep you can perform with a sump pump.

Which AC, backup, and water-powered sump pumps do you recommend?

Our top recommendation for an AC pump is the Zoeller M267, which we’ve reviewed here and found to be the most reliable AC-powered sump pump on the market. For a DC backup, the best on the market is the Wayne WSM3300, which we’ve reviewed here. For an AC/DC combination sump pump, we recommend the Wayne WSSM40V, which we’ve reviewed here. And for a water-based sump pump, we’re fans of the Basepump HB1000-PRO, which we’ve reviewed here.

If you find our work at PumpThatSump helpful, you can put our relentless reviewing of every pump and fixture on the market to the test by shopping via our links above for whatever you need to make your house a home. Despite being self-employed, we promise not to spend it all on health insurance.

There are a lot of terms in plumbing where having clear definitions can be essential to getting your money’s worth from a plumber or contractor. One of the most frequently asked questions we get about plumbing involves what exactly constitutes “rough-in.”

We’re going to go over what a roughed-in house or addition should look and shouldn’t like, keeping in mind that specific definitions can and will vary from state to state and from plumber to plumber; make sure you’re in the clear with local regulations before starting or finishing any project.

This is part of a series of articles answering frequently asked questions about basics; other entries in the series include why you need to vent your fixtures.

What does rough-in mean for home building and remodeling projects?

In the context of home construction, additions, and renovations, rough-in refers to laying out main lines and cables but not making final connections. Your walls won’t be sealed and your drywall won’t yet be installed. Uncovered walls and floors makes it easier for the rough-in to be modified if it doesn’t pass safety and code inspections or if you, the homeowner, puts in a construction change order to modify the project.

Where is the term rough-in most frequently used?

You’ll hear the term rough-in most frequently in electrical and plumbing settings. In an electrical setting, rough-in means pulling all of your electrical cables to their boxes through studs. However, at this stage, none of your light switches, lights, outlets, fans, and so on would be connected.

In a plumbing context, rough-in is when holes are bored through studs to allow pipes to be installed and connected to each other. However, as with electrical rough-in, roughed-in plumbing won’t have fixtures, end elements, or terminal connections yet attached.

How does rough-in impact the permit process for home builds, additions, or renovations?

Roughing in is typically put in place before your plumbing, building, or electrical inspector drops by. A typical chain of events is as followed, although details will vary from one project and region to the next.

1. Your floor, wall, and ceiling structures will be built but will not be closed, and drywall will not yet be installed.
2. An electrician will run electrical wires throughout the house from your service panel, such as to your light switches and outlet receptacles. Wires will not be connected and will have bare ends in each electrical box put in place.
3. A plumber will connect drain pipes and supply lines through studs and beneath floors to all necessary fixtures, including showers, bathroom sinks, kitchen skins, bathtubs, toilets, and more.
4. Inspectors will then visit and either approve or fail all work done to this point; this is known as a rough-in inspection, and it is done before any insulation and drywall is added, as it’s much easier to change things before walls are put in place than after. If work is approved, drywall installers will then hang and connect drywall throughout the project.
5. Plumbers, electricians, and other tradespeople will install all necessary end-point structures. For electricians, this means things like lights, switches, outlets, and fans. For plumbers, this means all of your relevant fixtures, such as sump pumps, sewage pumps, toilets, sinks, bath tubs, and showers.
6. Inspectors will revisit the property and approve the building permit if all looks good; this is a final inspection. If work is judged to not be up to code, changes will need to be made and the inspectors will return at a later date to revisit the property and see if the necessary changes meet their requirements.

What are some generally accepted plumbing standards for rough-in? What’s the bare minimum necessary?

While the specific definitions of roughed-in plumbing will vary from one professional to the next, here are some basics you should expect. All of your supply lines should be stubbed out of your walls. The wall condition doesn’t matter; whether the walls have finished surfaces, bare framing, or are repaired, there should still be visible supply lines. On top of this, all of your drains should be connected to any existing wastewater lines. If there are finished surfaces present, your drains should be capped outside of them. This means that any drains coming from walls should stick out by several inches and be capped. Any drains from floors should protrude from where the finished floor surface is expected to lie and should also be capped. If you don’t have stubbed supply lines and capped wall drains and floor drains, your plumbing isn’t roughed in.

What are local township and municipal definitions of roughed-in plumbing to pass rough-in inspections?

Local definitions will always trump Internet definitions. Some townships and municipalities say roughed-in plumbing must have drainage and supply lines tested for water flow, connections to local sewer and water mains inspected by relevant water and sewage authorities, and more. As a minimum, most rough-in inspections will require piping through all wastewater and drain water lines, and you’ll also need hot and cold water lines stubbed out of flooring and walls.

Some states and cities significantly limit the amount of plumbing work homeowners can perform on their own homes without licensing, and that can include rough-in. The bad news about such specificity is that you might not be able to do much of the work on your own, no matter how experienced you are in plumbing. The good news is that such laws and procedures can protect you if you hire a licensed contractor who tries to argue that doing next to nothing was good enough.

Do I always need work approved by an inspection, even if I do the work by myself without a contractor?

The answer to this question will depend on your municipality. Some cities and towns will require rough-in inspections no matter who is doing the work as well as a final inspection for any plumbing or electrical projects of significant scope. Of course, what counts as significant will vary from one municipality to the next. The best way to find out what you actually need, when, and how it can be done, is to call your local inspection office.

If you find our work at PumpThatSump helpful, you can put our relentless reviewing of every pump and fixture on the market to the test by shopping via our links above for whatever you need to make your house a home. Despite being self-employed, we promise not to spend it all on health insurance.