Introduction
The sump pump pit is the foundation for installing a sump pump. If the pit is excellently prepared then the productivity of the sump pump would be maximized and you would also have far less issues to worry about, once you have installed a sump pump at the ideally prepared pump pit. The quality preparation denies water from accumulating in the basement or the crawlspace. The water can be dangerous and can cause a lot of issues to your house and your belongings inside. Thus, the only good solution is to prepare an adequate sump pump pit and then install a quality sump pump to pump away the water from the crawlspace.
Things that you will need
The following are the major things that you will require for making a sump pump pit by yourself:
- Sum pump liner
- Digging equipment
- Level
- Tape measure
Steps required for preparing the sump pump pit
The following are the steps required for preparing the sump pump pit:
- Locating the problematic spot– The ideal location for digging a sump pump pit is where the water accumulates in your crawlspace. This will allow your sump pump to work efficiently. Make sure that the spot that you have selected has got no nearby utility or the drain lines. If you are unsure about the lines, then all you can do is to proceed slowly for digging by making sure that no nearby drainage lines could be affected. Further, the spot shouldn’t be closer to any of the outside openings as the temperature there can be very cold which makes the system vulnerable to freezing.
- Digging – The pit should be dug 2 feet in width and 2.5 feet in depth. Make sure that there are no substantial roots, rocks or any other such obstruction in the way. The walls of the pit may be tapered, if needed. The size of the pit can also be determined with the size of the liner which you are going to install next. It’s important to dig according to the size of the liner you are going to place there, because huge difference in the size of the pit and the liner would cause fitting issues and may not let you fix the whole set up properly in place. Though, little or minor difference, can be accommodated easily to fix up the system.
- The liner installation – When you are looking to install or insert the liner in the pit that has been dug then make sure that the liner of the sump pump could fit in very smoothly and seamlessly. It should be at a fixed and steady level with no free moving of the equipment. The voids that essentially surround the fit should be ideally filled in using dirt or mud. Insert mud as needed or until it reaches the saturation level. This is an important part as it will securely hold the liner in its place. It is highly critical to have the sump pump liner at the constant level right throughout the complete liner insertion process. If it is correctly laid then it will let the water to pass effectively, but the dirt and debris will be blocked. You can leave 1 inch of clearance on all the sides of the liner. This will avoid blockage from any debris or dirt.
Through all these steps the most important things is to keep in mind the point to which you need to dig the pit and the size of it. Its because the better you prepare according to the required size the better you can achieve the installation of your sump pump in an easy and precise way.
