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What Actually Fails

Five things, and the motor is the last of them rather than the first.

The gist

In rough order: the float, the check valve, the inlet screen, the discharge line, and last of all the motor. That order matters to a quote, because the first four are parts and the fifth is a pump. FEMA puts replacement at about ten years.

Source: FEMA, Maintain your Sump Pump.

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.

In rough order

Part	How it announces itself
Float or switch	Pump does not start with a full pit, or does not stop with an empty one.
Check valve	Rapid on-off cycling; a distinct clunk as the water comes back.
Inlet screen	Runs normally, moves less; the pit empties slowly or not fully.
Discharge line	Motor runs, nothing leaves. In winter, suspect ice at the outside end first.
Motor or impeller	Humming without starting, tripping the breaker, or silence.

Four of those five are components. Only the last is the pump in the sense people mean when they say the pump has gone.

The one FEMA gives a number to

FEMA’s line is replacement at more than ten years old, or where there are deep puddles, no sound of running, or frequent cycling. We do not publish a service life of our own, for this or anything else, because we have no source that supports one.

Source: FEMA, Maintain your Sump Pump.

What to have ready when you call

Whether the pump is running, whether water is leaving, roughly how old it is, whether it is on a backup arrangement, and where the discharge terminates. Those five answers shorten the visit more than anything else you can do.

Where to go next

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