Sump Pumps Stop Leaks Myth

Sump pump salesmen are very selective when they describe what their sump pump will do. They usually won’t tell you “The leak has stopped,” but rather they will say, “Your basement is now dry.”

Saying, “Your basement is now dry”, is not the same as waterproofing your basement or stopping the leak to your basement. The best way to waterproof your basement is to deal with surface water drainage systems. (They have pushed the water to the bottom of the footing - the worst place to push water!)

Some pumps do not stop leaks! Rather, they catch water that is leaking into your basement before it shows up on your floors or wall. Essentially they hide the water leaking into your basement and channel it under the floor so you don’t see it, over to a sump pump which pushes it out the wall. They may even put fancy coatings over the walls so you do not see the leak, but its still there. They hide the water a few inches below the concrete in your floor so you do not see the leak. Essentially they are very good at hiding the leak in your basement that is still there.

Before you get convinced into wasting an extravagant amount of money on an unnecessary sump pump, we would suggest you study all our reasons for NOT getting a sump pump. Our explanation of how sump pumps work will immunize you against slick talking salesman. They want you to buy something that is not necessary and may even be counterproductive to having a dry, damp free basement.

Basement waterproofing for water in basement has led to some inaccurate theories of how water moves underground on its way to get the basement wet. We can help with DIY basement waterproofing by accurately understanding how water is getting into the basement.