Sump Pump Repair in Austin & San Antonio

Most do not. Central Texas homes are overwhelmingly built on slabs with no basement, and rainwater is handled by grading and surface drainage. A sump pump becomes necessary when part of the home sits below the surrounding grade or below the sewer line: a garage or lower level cut into a Hill Country hillside, a crawl space that takes runoff, a sunken patio or window well, an elevator pit, or a bathroom in a below-grade addition. Our region also gets intense, fast rain events, so when a low spot does exist, it can fill quickly. If you are not sure, we would rather come look at how water moves around your home than sell you a pump you do not need.

Pour water into the pit, enough to raise the float. The pump should start, the water should drop quickly, and the pump should shut off on its own. Then watch for a minute: if water rises back into the pit right away with no new inflow, the check valve is letting the discharge line drain backward. Listen for grinding or a hum without pumping, and check that the discharge outlet outside is actually releasing water. Do this a couple of times a year, and always before a forecast of heavy rain. If the pump does not start, do not assume the outlet is dead and plug something else in to check; call us, because a pump that has seized can trip a breaker or worse.

If losing the pump would mean losing the room, yes. Sump pumps are needed most during severe weather, and severe weather is when the power goes out. A battery backup is a second pump in the same pit, on its own float, powered by a battery that charges from the wall. When the primary pump loses power or fails outright, the backup takes over for hours. It is also insurance against the more common failure, a primary pump that simply dies with the power on. For a finished lower level, a garage full of stored belongings or a below-grade bathroom, the backup usually costs far less than one flood would. For a pit that rarely sees water, we will tell you it is optional.

A sump pump moves clean groundwater and rainwater out of a pit and discharges it outside, away from the foundation. A sewage ejector pump moves wastewater, including solids, from fixtures that sit below the level of the main sewer line, and pumps it up into the sewer. That means a bathroom, laundry room or kitchen in a lower level or a below-grade addition. Ejector systems use a sealed, vented basin and a pump built to pass solids, and they are installed and permitted differently from a sump. Using a sump pump for sewage, or the other way around, ends badly. When you call about a pump in the floor, we will identify which one you have and service it accordingly.

The usual answer is a failed check valve. Each time the pump shuts off, the water still in the discharge pipe falls back into the pit, the float rises, and the pump starts again. A new check valve fixes it. Other causes are a float switch set too low or hung up on the pit wall, a pit that is too small for the inflow, or a genuine steady source of water such as a high water table after a wet spell, a leaking supply line nearby or irrigation runoff draining toward the pit. Short cycling wears out a pump quickly, so it is worth a visit. If the pit is filling from a leak rather than groundwater, we can trace that too.