Sump Pump Replacement in Wilmington, MA

Monday, May 6th, 2024 by Marcus Girard

Challenge

A finished basement can be a great extension of the home. However, if that finished basement isn't waterproofed, the investment made could be put at risk. These homeowners in Wilmington, Massachusetts had a sump pump system that was unable to keep up with water entering the basement. The high water table under the basement slab seeped through the foundation through cracks. As a result, personal belongings in the storage space were damaged. The homeowners want to finish the basement, but are unable to do so with constant foundation leaking. In search of having a permanently dry basement, they reached out to our Erickson Foundation Solutions team.

Our Design Specialist, George Gouthier, went to the home to conduct a free home inspection. During a thorough inspection of the basement, George identified areas of concern where water would leak through cracks in the concrete wall and floor. After completing the inspection, George sat down with the homeowners to discuss permanent solutions that best meet their needs. Ultimately, the permanent waterproofing system that George recommended included:

130' of perimeter drainage (WaterGuard) along the base of the foundation walls to capture water
25' of surface drainage (TrenchDrain) to redirect water around the oil tank, water heater, and stairs
55' of feed lines to set up shortcuts from high influx areas to the sump pump
2 TripleSafe sump pump systems, including a battery back-up pump
4 IceGuards, to prevent the discharge line from freezing in cold temperatures
40' of discharge lines, ensuring the water is pumped out and away from the home.

Solution

Our crew arrived at the home on the scheduled installation date. Before any work began, foreman Ryan Champagne performed a walkthrough with the homeowners to discuss the objectives to be met in order to protect their home. The installation crew then started work on the basement by installing the WaterGuard perimeter drainage system. In order to install this system, they first chipped out 8" of concrete of the foundation floor along the border of basement. The jackhammering process can be dusty, so our crew took the proper precautions to make sure all items in the area stayed clean and safe. Once the perimeter is chipped, it is removed in order to allow space for WaterGuard. This system was installed around the entire perimeter of the basement, totaling 130'. The system sits within crushed stone to allow proper drainage flow. TrenchDrain surface drainage is used in areas where WaterGuard is inaccessible. This system connects to WaterGuard, and reroutes water around the oil tank, water heater, and stairs. Two feed lines were installed in the foundation to ensure that water was being distributed evenly to the two sump pump systems. These feed lines also connect to the WaterGuard system.

The drainage system flows to the TripleSafe basins. For these homeowners, two sump basins were created due to the high volume of water surrounding the foundation. Once the basins are created, the TripleSafe sump pump systems can be installed. Our TripleSafe system is composed of three pumps. The first cast iron primary AC pump operates at 1/3 horsepower to remove standard amounts of water out of the home. A second pump, operating at 1/2 horsepower, activates when water levels in the sump basin rise. This typically includes heavy rains and snow melting. Lastly, a third battery back-up pump operates in emergency situations such as a power outage. The battery back-up system comes with a charging control box with an alarm and a 120-amp sealed, maintenance free battery. The WaterWatch alarm system is also battery powered and alerts the homeowners if water is near the surface of the basin. Once the TripleSafes are installed and connected to the WaterGuard system, they are all cemented in place.

In order to deliver the water out of the home, a discharge line must be added to the TripleSafes. A total of 40' were installed, which allowed the sump pumps to remove the water from the basement to their backyard woods area. Attached to the exterior discharge line were four IceGuards. IceGuard is an exterior discharge system that allows water to flow freely despite freezing temperatures. It is essential that discharge lines remain unfrozen, or are else potentially exposed to backing up and flooding the sump basin, which would ultimately flood the basement.

Once the installation crew installed all of these systems, they performed a final walkthrough with the homeowners to showcase all the work that was done and answer any questions. These homeowners were ecstatic knowing that their basement would now remain dry all the time. Not only was their storage space now safe, but they can now move forward with their plans to finish the basement and create that beautiful living space that they've always wanted.