I hired a large plumbing company which shall go un-named to put in a french drain, sump pit, and sump pump in my crawl space, and overpaid them triple of what I should have. Within just a couple of years the sump pump stopped working. I had them replace the pump at a cost of $900. I knew it was far more expensive than it should have been. I paid it because my heel bone was broken and my lower leg was in a cast.

A few months later the new sump pump stopped working. I didn’t go down to the crawl space to check it out thoroughly because my heel was still not healed. When the rainy season came in the spring and the sump pump was still not working, I called up the company. By then, it had been 14 months and the manufacturer warranty was only 12 months. It would cost another $900!

I said no, I will fix it myself.

Here’s what I saw when I inspected it:

Water was going into the sump pit but it wasn’t just water. The water was pushing mud and styrofoam pellets into the pit. In addition, the one-way valve was worn out and not working, possibly because of crap that had been pushed through it.

I bought a nice new sump pump with a float, new PVC drainage pipes, a new one-way valve, pipe solvents and glues, and an inexpensive see-through Rubbermaid storage tub, all for less than $200. “Why the Rubbermaid storage tub?” you might ask. My idea was to get water AND ONLY water into the sump pit.

This diagram shows how I used the tub as a water collector prior to it going into the sump pit.
Results: No dirt, no mud, no crap in the sump pit.