Sump pump
The sump pump stopped, and what comes in now is groundwater.
Check the breaker and the float switch first, because both fail more often than the pump itself, and a power cut during a storm takes out every pump on the street at once. Then understand what is arriving: groundwater rising from below is treated differently by a policy than water escaping from plumbing.
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The three things that fail, in order of likelihood
Power goes first: a storm takes out the supply and the pump stops with it. The float switch goes second, jammed by debris or stuck against the side of the pit. The pump motor itself is the least common failure. Check them in that order before assuming you need a new pump.
A pump that hums without moving water is usually a jammed impeller or a blocked discharge line, and a frozen discharge outside in winter does exactly the same thing.
A battery backup exists for the power case, and it is the only one of the three you can prepare for in advance.
What arrives, and how fast
Groundwater comes in slowly and does not stop. Unlike a burst pipe it has no fixed volume: it keeps rising while the water table stays high, which during a storm can be days. Extraction has to keep pace rather than happen once, and a temporary pump is often the first thing a crew brings.
Slow arrival also means the water climbs the wall by capillary action rather than splashing. The tide line on drywall is usually well above the depth the water actually reached.
Standard cover, and the endorsement that exists for this
Standard homeowners wording generally excludes water that backs up through drains or rises from below, which includes a failed sump. The specific endorsement for sump overflow and water backup is inexpensive and widely declined. Check your Declarations page for it now, not at the point of claim.
This is also not flood cover. Flood is a separate NFIP policy with its own 30-day waiting period, and it answers for rising surface water rather than for a pump that stopped.
Where the pump failed because the power went out in a declared storm, the answer still comes from the endorsement rather than from the storm, which surprises people every season.
Who acts, and on what
A basement reaches four readers differently.
- 01You own and live here. Get extraction started and read your Declarations page for the backup endorsement while the crew works. Those two facts decide the rest of the month.
- 02You own it and rent it out. A finished basement let as living space raises habitability questions quickly when it floods. Document the pump service history: it is the first thing you will be asked for.
- 03You are buying the place. Ask when the pump was last replaced and whether there is a battery backup. A pump with no backup in a high water table is a known annual cost, not a surprise.
- 04You rent here. Report it in writing and move your belongings off the floor. A basement that floods repeatedly is a condition of the building, and the written record of each occasion is what matters later.
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What to ask before you agree to anything
Ask these of whoever turns up. A contractor who answers them plainly is the one you want; a contractor who will not is telling you something.
- 01Is the water still rising, and are you leaving a pump here overnight?
- 02How high did it actually reach, and how high are you cutting?
- 03Is the insulation in the wall cavity wet, and are you opening it?
- 04What are you drying the concrete to, and how long does that take?
- 05Is the discharge line clear, or is that a separate job?
- 06What licence covers this, and does it cover the pump replacement as well as the drying?
Have this ready before you call
Three facts move the first minute past the formalities: what happened, when it started, and whether water is still moving. These add the detail that decides what gets loaded on the van.
- Whether the basement is finished or bare
- How deep the water got, at its deepest
- Whether the power was out and for how long
- Whether the pump has a battery backup
- When the pump was last replaced, if you know
- Whether the discharge outlet outside is clear and unfrozen
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Where these figures come from
Every number on this page is published by someone other than us, and each link goes to their own text rather than to a summary of it.