I bet someone here has already done this. My Mom's basement floods, it has a been an issue for decades. Normally it is no big deal. Mom goes downstairs, flips a switch that turns on the pump and drains the water. There is no sump hole cut in the floor, we just use a pump that primes with very little water. Now for the problem...
Mom broke her leg and really shouldn't be using the stairs in general anymore. In fact, we plan on deadbolting the basement door to keep Mom from going to the basement anymore (she's stubborn).
I tried to find an automatic pump that triggers in shallow water (less than an inch) but no dice. Everything seems to need a few inches of water to move a mechanical switch. If the basement has more than four inches in it, the water just starts running out the garage door, so that won't work. I need something that triggers before it hits an inch of water.
I was thinking I need some sort of reverse water sensor that instead of turning off something during a water leak, it kicks on the pump circuit instead.
At Mom's age (and income) a proper fix just isn't in the cards, so let's stick to GRM style solutions.
Starting from something like that as a starting point for searches, I'm finding lot's of shallow water leak detectors, but they mostly appear to either drive alarms or be part of some kin dof home automation system.
The basement has a concrete floor correct? It would probably be an afternoon's work to break the floor enough to install a sump pit, and then you could install a proper sump pump.
SVreX
MegaDork
2/7/20 1:59 p.m.
Why not just cut a hole in the floor and add a pit?
mtn
MegaDork
2/7/20 2:04 p.m.
SVreX said:
Why not just cut a hole in the floor and add a pit?
I think this is probably the cheapest option aside from letting it build to 4 inches... The pit can be tiny - I've seen them using a 5 gallon bucket as a liner.
There are shallow water level sensors. My first real job was wiring up climate control systems used in computer rooms in the 70's. We had an option for a water sensor. It was a piece of metal bent into a U shape with 2 leads insulated down to the probes. Can't remember what the probes were made of, but copper probably. It sat on the floor. Water presence would short between the 2 probes and trigger the alarm circuit. You could do the same thing with a relay to kick on your pump. You could build this grass roots style from scrap laying around, plus a relay/contactor.
mtn said:
SVreX said:
Why not just cut a hole in the floor and add a pit?
I think this is probably the cheapest option aside from letting it build to 4 inches... The pit can be tiny - I've seen them using a 5 gallon bucket as a liner.
Time. I was hoping for something I just need to plug in that would live between the outlet and the plug for the pump. I don't have a free day to spend busting concrete across town. Still dealing with Mom's physical therapy, running my own business, and three kids. If nothing exists to automate the pump, then I'll just dig the pit when I eventually get some time.
Bingo! Looks like I want an automatic pool cover pump:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Blue-Wave-Dredger-Jr-350-GPH-above-Ground-Pool-Winter-Cover-Pump-with-Auto-On-Off-NW2322/205576862?MERCH=REC-_-pipsem-_-203544786-_-205576862-_-N
$50 and will hook up to the hose we already use to drain the basement. Automatic on/off and drains down to 1/8" of water. I think we have a winner.
