SUMP PUMP BENEFITS: EXCELLENT INDOOR QUALITY STARTS IN THE BASEMENT

If you need your sump pump repaired or replaced, please call us at 630-504-8688 or click here to fill out a form and one of us will be in touch with you shortly to confirm your appointment.

The more time you spend in your house, the more important it is to make sure the air you breathe is clean. It’s good for your health and well as your comfort.

With Fox River Valley residents spending something like 90 percent of their time inside, indoor air quality is an important consideration. And, most people don’t realize that a lot of what you can do to improve the air you breathe starts at the bottom.

Specifically, the basement.

Around 40 percent of the water in your home enters through the basement. It’s mostly due to hydrostatic pressure, which I’ll get into in a little bit.

That water can cause all sorts of trouble. It contributes to high humidity, especially in the summer. And, it can make your home a breeding ground for bacteria, mold, and mildew.

And, to get rid of that water before it even gets in, you need a sump pump.

Sump Pumps in Fox River Valley Homes

You probably know people with sump pumps Elgin, East Dundee, or other towns relatively close to Lake Michigan. These devices capture water before they get into your basement and shunt it away from your home.

This way, that moisture never gets a chance to collect in the first place. And, for homes like ours, they make a huge difference.

I mentioned hydrostatic pressure before. That’s pretty much what you think of like water pressure in the ocean, like how you can feel it pushing on you the deeper you go.

The same effect occurs in your basement.

Water in the ground pushes in on your foundation. And in areas like ours, near a large body of water, there’s plenty of that underground water.

Your cement foundation does a good job keeping it out — in part why you don’t feel like you’re scuba diving when you’re down there — but that moisture still finds a way.

It comes from the ground up and seeps in. It puddles on the floor and condensates on the walls. If you have a finished basement, you may not see it, but it’s there — and it could be worse than you realize.

Rugs and drywall won’t keep that moisture out. They’ll only hide it. You won’t notice the damp concrete walls or slab floor, but it’s there.

And, when it reaches a return duct, your air conditioner circulates it throughout the house in the summer.

That’s when you end up with high humidity.

If you need your sump pump repaired or replaced, please call us at 630-504-8688 or click here to fill out a form and one of us will be in touch with you shortly to confirm your appointment.

High Humidity Problems in the Summer

On the comfort side of things, it doesn’t feel right. You’re hotter than you want to be, and your skin is moist and sticky. Heat sticks close to your body, and your sweat can’t evaporate.

People with allergies and asthma have it even worse. Pollen and dirt and other irritants that make respiratory issues flare up are more of a problem. You don’t want that stuff in your house at all, but to a point, it’s inevitable.

And, when it’s extra humid, that stuff sticks in the air instead of falling and settling. Then, you’re more likely to breathe it in when it’s in the air around you.

The obvious solution is a whole-home dehumidifier, but many homes around Elgin, IL, Barrington, IL and Algonquin, IL were built with a sump pump or two included, especially in neighborhoods where the water table is high.

Often you wind up installing a sump pump or two after you’ve had a flood in your basement. A good waterproofing company will trench out your slab along the wall and create a french drain around the perimeter of the area to be treated and run that drain right into a sump pump or two.

That’s why recommend keeping a close eye on your sump pump, and definitely having a backup power system just in case you lose electricity during a bad storm.

When you get to the root of the problem, you’re not playing catch-up with a dehumidifier. In fact, you may not need one anymore at all — or, it’s just making your house exceptionally comfortable rather than working hard just to make things tolerable in the summer.

How Does a Sump Pump Work?

The sump pump works by pumping water out of your home from under your basement slab. The location of your pump was chosen as the low spot in your basement, or a waterproofing company has trenched your slab to create an unencumbered pathway for water to make its way to your sump pump. Then, it pumps out and transports it away from your home. Your sump pump removes the water before you even notice it.

The pump has a balloon level on it. When the water rises and lifts that balloon, the pump turns on, sucking out the water. From there, we attach a pipe to the pump, so it sends that water far away from the house.

The process is automatic: You never worry about measuring levels or turning it on and off.
If the balloon level rises, the pump turns on until the water level lowers again. It’s powered by electricity, so I also recommend a backup battery in case the power goes out.

We recommend Zoeller’s sump pump backup system, and while we would gladly install yours, it’s a relatively straightforward DIY project if you have some mechanical skills.

If you need your sump pump repaired or replaced, please call us at 630-504-8688 or click here to fill out a form and one of us will be in touch with you shortly to confirm your appointment.

Installation

The other part of it is making sure all the water reaches the pump. A lot of times, we’ll build a trench underground around the house that leads to the pump. This way, water doesn’t seep in around the foundation. It goes straight to the pump, which gets rid of it.

And, where condensation on the walls is a big issue, you can put in small barriers on the floor close to the wall. This creates a channel for water coming through the wall to collect and lead straight to the pump.

The end result is a cleaner, more comfortable, and more healthy home — especially in the summer.

Your home has significantly less moisture seeping in at any time. Then, your dehumidifier works to make your home exceptionally comfortable, not just tolerable.

You can set it to keep the humidity level between 30 and 60 percent — I recommend 45 percent, personally — and it’ll do the job with no problem.

If you need your sump pump repaired or replaced, please call us at 630-504-8688 or click here to fill out a form and one of us will be in touch with you shortly to confirm your appointment.