What we do
We repair, replace and install submersible and pedestal sump pumps, and we test the whole assembly rather than just the motor: the float switch, the check valve, the discharge route, and the dedicated GFCI circuit it should be on. A pump that runs is not the same as a pump that empties the basin.
Most failures we are called out for are not the pump itself. A float switch wedged against the basin wall, a check valve that lets the discharge run straight back down, or a discharge line that was routed uphill will all leave you with a pump that hums and a basin that fills. Those are cheap fixes when they are found in September and expensive ones when they are found in February.
On a replacement we size the pump to the basin and the lift, not to whatever was there before, and we route the discharge somewhere it will actually drain away from the structure. Where the basin serves a crawlspace, we check that the sump is the lowest point and that the ground around it has not silted up over the years.
What we check on every visit
- Float switch travel, free of the basin wall and the discharge pipe
- Check valve holding, so the discharge does not drain back
- Discharge routed away from the foundation, not into a blocked line
- Dedicated GFCI circuit, not an extension lead
- Basin free of silt, gravel and construction debris
- A full cycle run under real water, not a lifted float
Signs you need this service
- The pump runs continuously, or cycles on and off every few seconds
- It hums but the water level does not drop
- Standing water in the crawlspace or the garage after rain
- Rust, silt or a smell coming off the basin
- The pump is more than 7–10 years old and has never been tested
- You have never heard it run at all
Test it before the season, not during it
A sump pump is the only fixture in the house that sits idle for months and is then asked to work for forty-eight hours straight. The sensible time to find a failed float is on a dry afternoon in autumn. Pour water into the basin until the pump kicks on, watch the level actually drop, and listen for the check valve seating when it shuts off.
Backup and what it is worth
A battery backup pump matters where a failure means water inside the structure rather than a wet slab — a finished basement conversion, a subterranean garage, or a crawlspace with ductwork in it. Where the sump only handles yard drainage, the money is usually better spent on clearing the area drains that feed it.
We will tell you which of those two you have before quoting a backup, and the price is agreed in writing before any work starts.
Where the sump usually is in an Orange County house
Almost nothing here has a basement, so the basin is somewhere less obvious. In the older inland tracts it is usually a crawlspace sump under the house, reached through a hatch in a closet floor or a vent on the side elevation. In the coastal and hillside cities it is more often an area-drain basin in the side yard collecting the yard and roof runoff, or a pit at the bottom of a subterranean garage ramp.
That matters for two reasons. A crawlspace sump that fails puts water under the structure where nobody sees it until the ductwork corrodes or the subfloor goes soft. A yard basin that fails just floods the yard — annoying, rarely structural. We will tell you which one you have, because it changes what the repair is worth.
It also changes access. A crawlspace pump is a different job from one at the bottom of a ramp, and we would rather size that on the phone than discover it on your driveway.