Last week I did an inspection of a vacant house in one of the more rural parts of our service area. In doing the initial walk-around of the exterior, I noticed the outlet for the sump pump.

It appeared to be leading to a buried pipe (which wasn’t in great shape), so I couldn’t tell how far out the water was going, but at least it wasn’t being dumped right next the foundation (which I see far too often).

So far, so good. Then I get to the door to the back deck.

Hmm, why is there condensation on the inside of the glass? Well, maybe the heat is turned up high inside, but I wouldn’t expect that in a vacant house.

I went into the house and started my walk-through, in which I briefly go through the entire house to figure out where things are and what equipment I’ll be needing. When I got to the basement, this is what I found.

Several inches of standing water throughout the basement, with extension cords and other wires totally immersed.

Standing water meant I wasn’t about to go to that electrical panel and see if the power was on, even if all the outlets I checked upstairs weren’t live. There was power to the meter, which meant there could possibly be power to the basement and all those wires hanging in the water.

More equipment threatened by the flood waters. This stuff looked pretty new, too, and it was all carefully raised off the floor. I don’t usually see this type of equipment raised off a floor… unless the owner suspects there may be problems.

Why was this basement flooded?

See the vertical pipe in the corner? It’s leading from the sump crock to the outlet outside. It was obviously not functioning as designed.

I called the listing agent to let her know about the flooded basement, and she told me that the sellers knew the sump pump was broken and were going to fix it. But there was just a little water, she said. Unfortunately, the last time she had visited the property was about a week prior to my inspection. It really does not take long for water to do damage if the control systems aren’t working right.

This could have been prevented.

A functioning sump pump is essential, especially in areas with a high water table (as this property is). Sump pumps have a serviceable life of as little as 5 years if they are in near-constant use; for houses with just a little bit of water in the crock every now and then they can last as long as 12 years or so. But with this kind of equipment it’s important not to wait until they fail, because failure can mean destruction of other systems of the home, not to mention personal property.

If you know your sump pump is operating frequently, you should definitely have a battery backup pump for power outages. In cases like the house I inspected, where the water table is high and the sump pump is absolutely necessary to avoid a flooded basement, it is also a good idea to have a backup generator available to keep it running. If the house is often empty (it’s either a second home, or the occupant travels frequently), a generator that automatically starts when the power is lost would be ideal. I would also recommend having a spare sump pump handy, in case the pump decides to fail at 3:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning.

It’s important to keep the sump crock free of debris that could clog the pump. Also, keep it accessible! You don’t want to have to move heavy furniture or boxes of belongings when you have a problem and need to get to the pump quickly.

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