It's normal to have a sump pump run everytime it rains and for a day or so after a big rain while the ground dries up.
It is not normal to have a sump pump run randomly most days. It is normal to run a dehumidifier all spring summer and fall in this climate and then swap for a humidifier in the winter to keep your hardwood and furniture from drying out. You need to make sure your sump pit isn't filling with water "randomly" and then go from there. |
Of course you will get a high humidity reading next to the sump crock - even if it is dry. Humidity is normal. Water intrusion is not. Humidity is best managed via central AC while water intrusion is an entirely different matter of which you are not complaining of. It’s ok. |
How do you get an inspection with a sewer drain camera? |
+1. My neighbor's sump pump runs most days even when it's dry. It's bizarre. They have definitely had water issues. So have we but only tied to big rains that overwhelmed the sump pump and the basement door (typical in our hilly neighborhood). Our sump pump only runs when it rains. I don't know what's going on with the neighbor but I know they don't have French drains or other drainage. We do have those and it has helped but isn't perfect. Spring/summer humidity followed by winter dryness is totally normal, but you should get the sump pump checked out. Also, for the person who said humidity always means mold -- nope. We had repeated rainwater incursions for years before we finally got the outside drainage worked out. We figured there had to be mold down there but we didn't check. Then a year ago we had a sewer backup that ruined part of the basement and we had to cut out 3 feet of drywall from the ground up all around the perimeter. I was amazed when the team found no mold behind there or under the carpets despite all those water events. Of course, still had to redo the place because of the sewage ... |
Hard to know. Many DMV houses have basements, and were built on hills, and with dehumidifiers they have done fine and been mold-free for decades. In our neighborhood, additions and tear-down rebuilds add to the runoff water volume so flooding or basement humidity can be a moving target. |
Agree with others: We run a dehumidifier in the basement 24-7 from mid April to mid October. And our sump pump is the only thing standing between us and wet basement... but it only runs when it rains (and sometimes the day after a heavy rain). |
How old is the house? Do you think the land around the house is still settling in? |
You can rent a 200 foot one from Home Depot for $150 or so for a couple of hours. They give you a lot of guff about not losing the end with the LED lights and camera on it and try to scare you like it’s going to come off. It won’t. The whole tool is heavy AF though, so keep that in mind. It’s on wheels though. https://www.homedepot.com/p/rental/General-Wire-Spring-Drain-Camera-CGPF-ECAM-ACE/309392482 Otherwise, you might just ask a plumbing outfit, but they charge you a ton of money. The perimeter drain should be correlated and at least 3 inches, so a standard drain camera should able to run through there and around any corners without much problem. We didn’t have any issues when we inspected mine. |
An outside footing drain on that house will not be corrugated plastic. It will be clay pipe. |
Our AC drains into the sump pump pit, so in the summer, when the AC is running a lot, the sump runs because there is so much condensate from the AC running into it (even if it hasn't rained in a while). The sump only runs in the winter if we get >1 inch of rain within 24 hours. But it will run in the summer every couple of days if it is hot and humid because the AC is pulling all that moisture out of the air to cool the house.
If you have a heat pump, you will see a white PVC pipe running from it to the sump. There should also be a capped inlet where you should pour a cup of bleach every couple of months to keep mold/mildew from forming. |
^^I mean, if you have a heat pump that drains into a sump. Also, I don't know what OP means about "mold growing on sump pipes." The only sump pipe you should see is the discharge line--the rest should be buried under your house. |
Personally, I would look into building up dirt levels around your house to make sure that you don't have water flowing toward your foundation. In newer homes built with a French drain system along the basement walls that empties into a sump, the sump can collect a lot of water that pooling along an exterior basement wall. |
I live in an older home and have two sumps in the basement. My water is coming up from the water table. In late spring thru October my sumps are dry unless we have alot of rain. During the winter months my pumps run. I use a Panasonic home automation system to track their run times as well wetness etc. I run humidifiers basically from April to October. |
In a house of this age with a sump I doubt any exterior drain would be connected to a sump crock. I was referring to an internal drain that may have been installed along the basement wall when the sump was installed. |
How do you track your sump run time? I have seen current monitors but worry they would burn out from heavy draw from pump. |