I have owned my home for 5.5 years. I have a sump pump pit, but no sump pump (neither did the previous owners). It now has standing water in it (low level). Do I need to install a sump pump?

Hi Cworner...

I'll tell you from experience that even if you have never needed a pump to date but you have some water standing in that pit then I would recommend installing a sump pump as they are super cheap to buy and easy to install so why not have the backup just in case... ;)

Here, I've had customers with dry basements for as many as 30 years until one year when they called me in to pump out 2 and 3 feet of water out of the basement. It seems, over time, and under the right conditions, even a dry basement can get flooded, so again I say, why not install one just to be safe?

Install a check valve on the pump discharge line and you'll want to periodically engage the float mechanism every 3-6 months just to be sure the pump will operate properly the day it is needed, OK?

Finally, I'm pretty sure we all recommend the ZOELLER sump pump around here. I've been installing them for 30 years and have almost never had an issue. You can check them out here at Zoeller Corporation (http://www.zoeller.com)

Questions? Let me know...

Mark