A sump pump installation is four things, and the pump is the least of them. There is the pit, the drain that feeds it, a dedicated circuit, and a discharge line that gets water far enough from the house that it does not come straight back. A pump swapped into an existing pit and a new system cut into a finished basement are not the same purchase.

What a pit costs in housing of this age

The middle home in Ogden was built in 1965, which is the oldest bracket in this part of the county and the one that changes the price most. Basements of that era are often block or stone rather than poured, floors are thinner and less consistent, and there is frequently no perimeter drain to tie a new pit into — so the quote is for a system rather than a pump. With the shallowest mapped seasonal water table at 29.9 inches, that system will have work to do.

The reasoning behind that

If a pit already exists, is the right size, and has a working discharge, replacing the pump is a short visit. That is the cheapest version and it is worth asking for explicitly, because a firm quoting a full system on a house that needs a pump has quoted the wrong job.

A new pit is excavation inside a finished space. The floor is cut, the pit is set, the surrounding drain is tied in, and the concrete is made good. That is a day, and the cost is mostly labor and access.

The discharge is where quotes diverge most. Water pushed out of a basement has to go far enough that it does not re-enter, and on a flat lot that can mean a buried line running the length of the property. A discharge that ends at the foundation is a pump moving the same water in a circle.

Ask about the backup, too. A pump on a single circuit is a pump that stops in the storm that caused the power cut.

More on this: Basement Waterproofing and Interior French Drain in Ogden, UT.

Every question, in one place: Ogden Utah French Drain drainage questions.

Check the Ogden Utah French Drain service area to see whether your street is covered.

Back to Ogden Utah French Drain.