I just spent my entire Friday night in the basement crawlspace and I need to vent to some people who understand the struggle. We live in an area with an incredibly high water table, meaning the ground underneath our house is basically a giant sponge year-round.
Our sump pump runs literally every 3 to 4 minutes, even during a dry spell in the middle of summer. Well, last night around midnight, I noticed the basement felt strangely quiet. I ran downstairs and found out the pump motor had completely burned out. The water basin was already overflowing onto the concrete floor.
Luckily, I had a cheap backup utility pump in the garage that I rigged up to clear the water while I rushed to the 24-hour hardware store for a replacement.
If your basement relies heavily on a pump like mine does, please do yourself a favor and buy a high-quality dual-pump system with a battery backup. If the power goes out during a storm or the main pump fails while you’re at work, your basement is completely ruined before you even know there’s a problem. Lesson learned the hard way