The sump pump: is it North Carolina’s favorite appliance? It’s almost certainly in the top five, especially after the rainy weather we’ve seen this fall. The Piedmont gets an average yearly rainfall of about 42-46 inches, and when the water saturates the ground, leaky basements abound.

If you’ve never heard of a sump pump, consider yourself lucky; it means you don’t have a problem with flooding! But for many people in the Triad, a sump pump is a necessity to avoid a basement full of water. A typical sump pump sits in a pit  where water collects. It has a water control switch that is activated when the water in the pit rises to a certain level. When the pump turns on, it sucks the water out of the pit and expels it out of the house.

Most primary sump pumps are electrical; they need a dedicated circuit and should not be plugged into an extension cord. If your basement floods frequently, or if you have a finished basement, you should also have a battery-operated backup. You can check to make sure your sump pump works by pouring a bucket of water into the pit. As the water rises, it makes the float rise, which should trigger the pump to start working. If it doesn’t, call in the experts at Johns Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning to make sure your basement stays dry.