Sump Pump Installation in Lancaster, PA

A sump pump collects groundwater in a pit below your basement floor and pumps it outside before it can spread across the slab. We install sump pumps in Lancaster and the towns around it. We size each one to how much water your basement actually takes on, and we route the discharge so the water does not come straight back.

Signs a sump pump would help

Most people start thinking about a sump pump the first time they find water on the basement floor. Sometimes it is a puddle along one wall after a heavy rain. Sometimes it is a damp line that creeps across the slab every spring. Either way, the water is coming from the soil around and under the house, and it needs somewhere to go.

Watch for these signs:

• Water seeping in where the floor meets the wall, especially after storms or snowmelt
• A damp or darkened strip along the floor that comes and goes with the weather
• White, chalky deposits on block or stone walls
• A musty smell that a dehumidifier never quite clears
• Water coming up through cracks in the slab rather than down the walls

What usually causes the water

Soil around a foundation holds water like a sponge. When it fills up after a long rain or a fast thaw, the pressure pushes water toward the easiest path. That is often the joint between the footing and the wall, or a crack in the floor. Clay soil makes this worse because it drains slowly and stays wet for days.

Around Lancaster, much of the ground sits on limestone, and water moves through it unevenly. One house can stay dry while the one next door takes water every spring. Groundwater can also rise quickly after a run of storms, then drop again within a week. A sump pump handles that stop and start pattern well, because it only runs when the pit fills.

Short downspouts and soil that slopes toward the house add to the load. We look at both during a visit. Fixing them can mean the pump runs less and lasts longer.

Choosing the right pump and pit

A sump system is a pit set into the basement floor, a pump inside it, a check valve that stops water flowing back, and a discharge pipe that carries water outside. The pit should be deep and wide enough that the pump is not switching on and off every minute. A pit that is too small wears out the switch and the motor.

The main pump types:

• Submersible pumps sit inside the pit. They run quieter and suit most finished or partly finished basements.
• Pedestal pumps keep the motor above the pit. They are easy to reach and service, and they work in unfinished spaces where noise is not a concern.
• Battery backup pumps sit beside the main pump and take over if the power goes out or the main pump fails.

Repair or replace an existing pump

Plenty of Lancaster basements already have a pump, sometimes one put in decades ago. Not every problem means a new pump. A stuck float switch, a clogged intake screen or a failed check valve can often be fixed on the spot.

Replacement usually makes more sense when:

• The motor hums but does not move water
• The pump runs constantly even when the pit is nearly empty
• There is rust or corrosion on the housing
• The pit is cracked, unlined or full of silt and gravel
• The pump cannot keep up during heavy rain

Where the water goes

A sump pump is only as good as its discharge line. If the pipe empties right next to the foundation, the same water soaks back into the soil and returns to the pit. The pump ends up running in a loop.

We run the discharge far enough from the house that the ground carries it away, or tie it into a buried line that takes it to a better spot in the yard. In winter, an exposed discharge pipe can freeze shut, so we plan the line to drain back and fit an overflow outlet outside where needed.

Rules on where sump water can go differ from one township to the next, and in general it should not be tied into a sanitary sewer line. We check what applies at your address before we settle the plan.

What an installation visit involves

A visit starts with a look at the basement and the outside of the house. We want to see where water shows up, how the yard drains and where the downspouts end. From there, a typical installation goes like this:

• Pick a pit location, usually the lowest point of the floor or where an existing drain can feed it
• Cut and break out the concrete, dig the pit and set a perforated liner in a bed of gravel
• Install the pump, check valve and discharge pipe, and run the line outside
• Patch the floor around the pit and fit a sealed lid to cut down on moisture and smell
• Fill the pit with water and watch the pump run through several full cycles

Sump pumps in Lancaster homes

Housing in and around Lancaster varies a lot, and the basement often tells you when a house was built. Older brick rowhomes in the city and stone farmhouses out in the county often have fieldstone or rubble foundations. Those walls were never meant to be fully dry, and water finds its way through the mortar joints. A pump will not turn an old stone cellar into a finished room, but it can keep standing water off the floor.

Postwar ranch and split level houses usually have block walls, which tend to leak at the joints and along the base. Many newer homes came with a pit already in place, sometimes with a basic pump that was never meant to last. In those houses, a better pump and a battery backup are often all that is needed.

Spring brings the most water, when snowmelt and rain arrive together and the ground is still cold. Summer thunderstorms can also drop a lot of water in a short time. If you are planning a pump, a dry stretch is the easiest time to put one in, because the pit is simpler to dig when the ground is not already full of water.