Sump Pump Repair
What FEMA asks of a sump pump once a year, where the discharge is legally allowed to go, and what actually fails.
Free to homeowners — the contractor pays us for the introduction, you never do.
The gist
A sump pump that cycles every few seconds is usually not a failing pump, and where its water is allowed to go is set by your municipality rather than by a plumber. FEMA publishes a nine-step annual service and a one-minute bucket test that together settle most of it.
Source: FEMA, Maintain your Sump Pump.
- You are never chargedContractors pay us when we route them a call. There is no cost to the homeowner, ever.
- Every figure names its sourceThe numbers on this site come from public data and the page says which, so you can check them.
- We say where we coverCalls are routed by ZIP code to independent contractors.See the coverage
- We say when not to callIf the fix is a few minutes of your own time, this site tells you that instead of selling you a visit.
Two things decide whether a sump pump saves your basement: whether it runs when the power is out, and whether the water is allowed to go where you are sending it.
What this site is
Pit and Pump is a referral service, not a contractor. We connect homeowners with independent contractors. Contractors are required to hold whatever credential their state or municipality demands, and a discharge connection is usually a permitted alteration — ask to see the permit. We carry out no work, we sell no equipment, we do not set prices, and we never charge homeowners anything — the contractors in our network pay us when we route them a call.Start here
Most sump pump advice is a buying guide. The two questions that actually cost people money are somewhere else entirely.
Where your discharge is allowed to terminate is a local legal question, and in a great many municipalities sending clear water into the sanitary sewer is unlawful and billed by the month. What the rule says and how to find yours.
Whether it runs in a power cut matters because the storm that fills the pit is the storm that takes the electricity out. The backup options, and the one that is not a backup.
The one-minute test
Pour a bucket of water into the pit. The pump should start, clear the pit and stop. That is FEMA’s own test, and it works because it exercises the float — the part that fails most and the part you cannot check by looking.
How to read each way it can fail, and the nine-step annual service FEMA publishes, including the ten-year replacement line.
Source: FEMA, Maintain your Sump Pump.
Before you replace a pump
A pump that starts and stops repeatedly is usually not a failing pump. It is the same water coming back down the pipe past a failed check valve — a component rather than the pump, and the one a whole-pump replacement often gets proposed over.
A pump that never stops is often not the pump either. Four causes, one of which is outside the house.
The part we play
We connect homeowners with independent contractors who cover their area, and the contractors pay us when we route them a call. You are never charged, and we would rather tell you the bucket test on this page than route you a call you did not need.
The full list
- Where it can dischargeConnecting a sump pump to the sanitary sewer is unlawful in a great many municipalities, and the penalty is monthly.
- Why the rule existsEPA names sump pumps, roof leaders and foundation drains as connections that overload a sanitary sewer.
- The annual service
- Testing itThe bucket test FEMA describes takes a minute.
- When the power goesThe storm that fills the pit is the storm that cuts the power.
- The check valveA pump that starts and stops repeatedly is usually not a failing pump.
- Running constantlyFour reasons a pump runs continuously, only one of which is the pump.
- What actually fails
- What moves a quoteNo prices are published here.
Where we route calls
Tap your state for the towns and ZIP codes we route in, and the figures behind them.
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this site is public and attributed. You can go and check any of them.
- HousingUS Census BureauAmerican Community Survey 5-year estimates — the housing figures on every town page, and the table each one comes from is named on the page.
- WaterUS Environmental Protection AgencyFederal drinking-water and plumbing rules, and the public water-system records behind the coverage pages.
What happens when you call
No form, no quote tool, no waiting for an email.
- You tell us what the water is doingOne short conversation. If it turns out to be something you can fix in five minutes, we will say so.
- We route the callWe match your ZIP code to an independent contractor who already covers your area — not a call center three states away.
- They quote, you decideWe do not set prices and we never charge you. The contractor pays us for the introduction.
What to do first
Four things worth doing first. They cost nothing and they can keep a small problem small.
- Shut off the water closest to the problemUnder a sink or behind a toilet there is usually a small valve on the supply line. Turning it clockwise stops that fixture without shutting off the rest of the house.
- If you cannot find it, use the mainUsually where the supply enters the building — a basement wall, a crawl space, or a covered box near the street. Then open the lowest tap in the house, which drains the standing water out of the pipes instead of out of the leak.
- Water and electricity: stay out of the roomIf water has reached an outlet, a panel or an appliance, switch that circuit off at the breaker before going near it. If you cannot do that safely, do not go in, and say so when you call.
- Photograph it before anything is movedInsurers ask for it, and a contractor can tell more from a photograph of the leak than from a description of it.
And one case where the answer is not to call us. If the water is surfacing on the street side of your meter, that is the utility's line and not yours. Report it to your water utility — they do not charge a homeowner to repair their own main.
Done the bucket test?If the pump ran and cleared the pit, you may not need us at all. If it did not, or if you want the discharge looked at, we will route you to somebody who covers your area — the ZIP code is all we need to find them. Free to you. The line is not restricted to sump work; any plumbing job can go through it.
Call (888) 515-3188
