Ask An Ambassador: Pump You Up!

I'm glad to see your sump pump issues have been taken care of. As for the analogy, perfect one to make! Our process could stop working and if it does, we just need to identify the issue and figure out how to get it running again.

Hello Bill (and Liz too) - I am glad your Animal Farm continues to be happy.  As for things associated with real estate and everyday life, "Murphy's Law" seems to have the ability to morph the modus operandi.  Unfortunately, things go amiss.  While they may not occur on a regular basis, stuff happens.   Proper preparation can certainly pay off.  

Pumps are intended to move fluids and when the fluids are missing or have changed consistency the pump struggles or fails.

Our business models work similar and when the market changes the system needs a review to get it working properly again.

I suppose I would rather have them both go at once. This way I would get them both fixed at once and less repair time (although I speak as someone who has the money to fix both...lol).

Good morning Bill,

As usual practical advice! Sometimes small adjustments make all the difference and a whole overhaul is not needed. It sounds like you were able to get things up and running smoothly in no time because of your expertise in making some tweaks.

So what I know from attending a bazillion inspections (not because I'm smart) is that the pump that is dedicated to your washing machine and/or any other grey water in the basement (or sometimes brown water as well) is called an ejector pump, not a sump pump.  I'm not sure why the distinction, since it does sit in a sump pit, but inspectors do seem to make a distinction.

Ejector pumps typically seem to be "sealed" at the top a little more securely (presumably to keep odours under control?).  I don't know if there's really any physical difference between the two... I imagine there might be since those that handle brown water might have some er, solids to deal with ... but we've now used up the extent of my knowledge.

Good advice to always be checking what is working and what is not so you can make adjustments. Glad you got your pumps working. 

I am glad that I don't have to deal with a sump pump, that doesn't sound like much fun at all, haha.

Liz and Bill Spear - I had a terrible experience with a failed Sump Pump in Illinois. It was located in the crawl space. One day I couldn't stand the smell and opened the latch inside my utility room to discover water was covering the entire square footage below the house to the top, beneath our floors. That was the day, I thanked God my husband (Army) knew what to do. As he kept swimming underneath the water I prayed because his life depended on it. You have no idea; how grateful I am to know there are people like you who know how to problem solve and fix something my brain doesn't understand. 

Your analogy was perfect for me too. I do appreciate your learning lessons for all. 

Thank you. 

No sump pumps at my house. But our dishwasher recently developed a leak and we were only made aware of the problem when the wood flooring in front of the machine took on a dark and damaged appearance. Now we need a new dishwasher, flooring repair and cabinet repair due to water damage to cabinets adjacent to the dishwasher.

A big deal! Kind of like the big deal as we move to required Buyer/Broker Agreements.

Kitchen repairs and real estate transition will be handled and we will move forward.

Bill I hear your pain with your failed pumps and totally get the importance of getting them working asap.  Phoenix homes rarely have basements (there are a few but that's about it) so sump pumps aren't common here. Thankfully one thing we don't have to do with.  As for 'lead' systems stop working - now that would be a problem. We haven't typically gone after 'leads' so it's not quite applicable to us. For years - and I mean years - we've had our normal A list of folks that continually received updates, cards etc from us - and that was continual.  If it stopped working, clearly it was to our NOT doing what is normal for us. But.....there are circumstances where info has to be updated to meet the current situations going on. If that doesn't happen, it's a sump pump fail per se.

Hi Bill:

Glad you had a quick and inexpensive solution to what could have been an ugly problem.

Sump pumps were very common back in Boston with unfinished dirt-floor basements in old homes and of course the spring rains and winter snow.

This was another good analogy for being prepared in our business (and life), and making corrections as soon as they are needed...and not spending money needlessly.

Jeff

We have a sump in our basement but no pump. Gravity takes care of our drainage. No idea where the water ends up, but it goes out of our basement and that's the object.