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Lancaster County · 22 years

Sump Pump Systems in Lancaster County, PA

Sump Pump Systems in Lancaster, PA

The one thing that cannot fail at 2am.

A sump pump is the last line between a storm and your finished basement, and it always fails on the night the power goes out. Ours are sized for the water you actually get, sealed against radon and humidity, and backed up on battery.

(800) 834-6584
A sealed sump system, in detailClose-up cutaway of a sump basin set into a basement floor, with earth around it. A green perforated drain enters from the left and drops water into the basin. The basin has a green airtight lid with a gasket line, and inside it a cast-iron pump sits in blue water with a green float switch riding the surface beside it. The pump's discharge riser passes through a green sealed grommet in the lid, through a green check valve, and runs off to the right away from the house, with droplets moving up it. A green high-water alarm sits on the lid. At the left a green-outlined battery backup with charge bars is cabled to the pump. Gold arrows on the right show groundwater arriving under the floor.From the footing drainBattery backup, for the night the power goesSealed, airtight lidGroundwater arriving under the floorFloat switchDischarge, away from the house

What's included

The actual scope

  • Cast-iron primary pump, sized to the load
  • Battery backup that runs through an outage
  • Sealed, airtight basin lid
  • Alarm and check-valve protection
  • Annual service available

How it runs

Start to warranty

  1. Flow and load assessment
  2. Basin set at the low point
  3. Sealed install with backup
  4. Test under load before we leave

Terms, plainly

Free estimate. No money down. Financing available. Lifetime warranty on waterproofing systems, and it transfers when you sell.

How the system works

Interior drainage, in cross-section

Not to scale · every install is sized to the house
Interior drainage, in cross-sectionCutaway through the soil, the block foundation wall and the basement floor of a house. Rainwater falls from a downspout and seeps down through saturated soil on the left, pressure arrows push it sideways against the wall, and a drainage system set into the floor on the right carries it away. Five numbered callouts. One, gold: rain and snowmelt saturating the soil against the wall. Two, gold: water forced through the block and in at the cove joint where floor meets wall. Three, green: a perforated drain pipe in a gravel bed at the footing, below the slab. Four, green: a sealed sump basin with a cast-iron pump and battery backup. Five, green: the discharge line running water away from the foundation.12345GradeWall vapor barrier
  1. The problem: Rain and snowmelt saturate the soil against the wall. Downspouts and grade decide how much arrives.
  2. The problem: Pressure pushes it through the block and in at the cove joint where floor meets wall.
  3. The system: A perforated drain in a gravel bed at the footing intercepts the water before the floor does.
  4. The system: It runs to a sealed sump basin with a cast-iron pump and battery backup for outages.
  5. The system: Discharge is routed far enough from the foundation that it does not simply come back.

Where you live changes the job

Sump Pump Systems on limestone is not sump pump systems on red shale

Lancaster County has four distinct ground conditions, and each one changes how we size and place this work. Your town page has the specifics.

Limestone valley floor

Interior French drain tied into a sealed sump basin with a battery backup, because the volume shows up fast and all at once. Wall vapor barrier where the block has been wicking.

Northern red shale and clay

Interior drain at the footing to relieve the pressure, plus wall reinforcement (carbon fiber or steel) anywhere the block has started to move. Exterior grading and downspout extensions to stop feeding the clay.

Southern schist uplands

Drainage on the uphill side first — interior drain plus exterior interception where the grade allows — and a discharge line routed far enough downslope that it does not simply return.

Susquehanna river terraces

Sub-slab drainage with a high-capacity sealed sump and battery backup, mortar repointing on stone walls, and encapsulation where the space is unfinished.

Before you call

Sump Pump Systems questions we get from Lancaster County

How long should a sump pump last before it needs replacing?

Seven to ten years is typical, and run time matters far more than age. A pump cycling every ninety seconds through a wet spring wears out long before one that runs occasionally. If yours is over ten, we'd rather look at it in September than get the call at 2am in March.

What happens if the power goes out during a storm?

Without a backup, nothing happens, which is the whole problem: the storms that fill your basin are the storms that drop the power. A battery backup takes over automatically and runs the system through the outage. It's standard on every system we install.

Do I need a second pump, or is one enough?

One correctly sized primary plus a battery backup covers most properties here. A second primary makes sense where the water volume is genuinely high or where a failure would flood a finished space. We size it off the flow we measure at your own house.

Does the basin need a sealed lid?

It should have one. An open basin is an open hole letting humidity, soil gas and radon into the room, and it's a safety issue where children use the space. A sealed, airtight lid you can stand on costs very little and it's fitted as standard on our installs.

Where is the discharge line supposed to end up?

Far enough from the foundation, and with enough fall, that the water can't work its way back to the footing. That's further than most people expect. We plan the route with you during the walkthrough and show you where it comes out before anything is installed.

Other things we fix while we are there

Get a real price on sump pump systems.

Free estimate anywhere in Lancaster County, and an honest answer about whether it can wait.

(800) 834-6584