2.
Once the concrete is broken away, remove it. Then with a small sledgehammer
and cold chisel, dress the edge of the concrete, making it as smooth
and even as you can.
CAUTION:
When working with concrete and concrete removal tools, be sure to
wear gloves and safety glasses. Pieces of concrete can fly when
hit with a sledgehammer and cause injury.
The
hole for the sump pump line should be approximately 3" to 4" deeper
than the liner.
Fill
the bottom of the hole with about 4" of fairly coarse gravel. The
gravel will form a base for the bottom of the pump and help prevent
mud and other debris from clogging the pump's action. The pump should
be placed on bricks or a concrete pad on top of the gravel base.
Now
set the liner in the hole and level it. There should be a small
space between the outside of the liner and the hole. Fill this space
with some of the dirt you removed from the hole, packing it between
the liner and the ground with the end of a piece of 1X3 scrap. The
dirt should be packed as tight as you can get it.
Bring
the level of the dirt to about 2" from the top edge of the liner
and level the dirt around the liner as best you can. Then mix a
batch of cement to fill the space between the top of the dirt pack
to the top of the concrete floor. An 80-pound bag of ready-to-mix
"cement mix" is about enough cement for this job.
Fill
and pack the cement mixture into the space, and then trowel the
cement smooth around the liner and edge of the concrete floor.
If
you have cut channels in the floor, smooth these channels as best
as you can with a cold chisel and sledgehammer, clean out the debris,
and wet down the concrete with water. Mix up a tub of cement that
contains a latex or epoxy bonder. You can buy this type of cement
already mixed, or you can buy the bonder and add it to the mix.
When
the mix is fairly stiff, trowel it into the channels you cut, forming
a smooth surface.
Let
all concrete set for several days before you continue with the project.
3.
To drain the sump, a discharge pipe must be connected from the pump
to the soil outside the house. There are two "don'ts" to keep in
mind:
Never
allow the sump discharge in a septic tank. You don't want to fill
your septic tank with groundwater or rainwater because it doesn't
need to be treated.
Never
allow the sump discharge to flow into the sewer line; most plumbing
codes don't permit it. In fact, some areas of the country put smoke
bombs into the sewer system to see if any smoke comes out of homes
using it. If discovered, you have 30 to 60 days to disconnect your
sump pump from the sewer hookup.
The
most common practice for the sump discharge is to run a pipe trough
the foundation wall. Use a cold chisel and a small sledgehammer
to drill a 3"hole in the wall so that it will open into the ground
about 10" below the top of the ground outside. Although the discharge
pipe can be copper or galvanized steel, we recommend 1 " plastic
pipe for the piping system because plastic pipe is easy to assemble
and it is plenty good enough for the job. Or, follow the pump manufacturer's
recommendations for pipe, or choose a pipe that will be the same
size as the pipe needed for the discharge opening on the pump.
Once
the hole is through the foundation wall, insert a length of plastic
pipe in the hole - a 4-footer is about right-and position the pipe
so about 1-1/2' of it is outside the foundation wall and 1-1/2'
of it is inside the foundation wall Fill around the pipe with a
cement mixture, packing it tightly in the hole.
NOTE:
You may want to cut the hole at the same time you install the sump
so you can complete all concrete work at the same time.
Assemble
the pipe outside by digging a trench and inserting the pipe into
a length of drainage pipe or clay pipe. Plastic drainage pipe is
a good product for this; it has holes in the walls of the pipe so
the water is distributed in the ground as it is pumped from the
basement sump. The pipe should be sloped down and away from the
foundation. If the soil doesn't have good drainage, you may want
to install the outdoor drainage system so it runs into a dry well.
Inside,
connect the pipe to sump via a straight connector, 45-degree elbow,
and check valve. The pipe is rigid enough to support itself in short
runs. If a long run, you can hold it to a ceiling joist with wire
or pipe hangers.
It
is very important to install a check valve to stop the backflow
of water into the sump. A check valve works with the water pressure
and closes against the pressure. The valve should be installed in
the horizontal pipe run. Or, follow the manufacturer's installation
instructions.
The
drainage pipe should go approximately to the top of the floor at
the sump liner. At this point it will be connected via a sleeve
connector to another length of pipe that connects to the base of
the pump.
