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Any reason I shouldn't cover over my sump pump?

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Any reason I shouldn't cover over my sump pump? Toller 11-06-2006
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Posted by Toller on November 6, 2006, 5:29 pm


My sump is 2' deep and has never had any water in it since I bought the
house 13 years ago. When I bought the house I found the sump pump was
improperly installed and didn't work, so it hadn't been needed in the
previous 13 years either.

I have a pretty steep slope away from my walkout basement; there doesn't
seem any reason water would want to get into my basement rather than running
down the hill.

Is there any reason I shouldn't just put a wood disk over it and reclaim the
space? I just have this (irrational?) fear that the moment I do... I know
the amount of space doesn't seem like much, but when you figure out the
space the pipe requires to get to the storm drain, it could be a nice set of
shelves instead.



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Posted by Goedjn on November 6, 2006, 5:45 pm



>My sump is 2' deep and has never had any water in it since I bought the
>house 13 years ago. When I bought the house I found the sump pump was
>improperly installed and didn't work, so it hadn't been needed in the
>previous 13 years either.
>
>I have a pretty steep slope away from my walkout basement; there doesn't
>seem any reason water would want to get into my basement rather than running
>down the hill.
>
>Is there any reason I shouldn't just put a wood disk over it and reclaim the
>space? I just have this (irrational?) fear that the moment I do... I know
>the amount of space doesn't seem like much, but when you figure out the
>space the pipe requires to get to the storm drain, it could be a nice set of
>shelves instead.
>
I'd use a metal manhole cover but other than that, go right ahead.



Posted by buffalobill on November 6, 2006, 6:02 pm


the sump is where all the water goes when a water heater breaks.

Toller wrote:
> My sump is 2' deep and has never had any water in it since I bought the
> house 13 years ago. When I bought the house I found the sump pump was
> improperly installed and didn't work, so it hadn't been needed in the
> previous 13 years either.
>
> I have a pretty steep slope away from my walkout basement; there doesn't
> seem any reason water would want to get into my basement rather than running
> down the hill.
>
> Is there any reason I shouldn't just put a wood disk over it and reclaim the
> space? I just have this (irrational?) fear that the moment I do... I know
> the amount of space doesn't seem like much, but when you figure out the
> space the pipe requires to get to the storm drain, it could be a nice set of
> shelves instead.


Posted by Toller on November 6, 2006, 6:22 pm



> the sump is where all the water goes when a water heater breaks.
>
When I fixed the pump I ran water into the sump but couldn't get the level
high enough to activate the pump; it drained away faster than I could put it
in. So unless it is unusually wet out, that isn't a problem.



Posted by Bob F on November 6, 2006, 9:02 pm



>
> > the sump is where all the water goes when a water heater breaks.
> >
> When I fixed the pump I ran water into the sump but couldn't get the level
> high enough to activate the pump; it drained away faster than I could put
it
> in. So unless it is unusually wet out, that isn't a problem.

The pump is probably there for the rare circumstance when
due to heavy rains, the water table in the ground rises above
the floor. It's cheap insurance against damage. Covering it
should not affect its performance. Removing it would.
If the ground really slopes away sufficiently that the water
table could not cause damage, you may be safe removing it.
You could run a drain pipe to the sump that drops to a
lower level outside if that is possible.
Bob



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