Sump Pump Failure Leads to a Flooded Basement

11/15/2018 (Permalink)

Sump Pump

During a recent rain event, SERVPRO of Annapolis/Severna Park went to a home in Anne Arundel County to handle a sump pump failure.  Sump pump failures happen for a variety of reasons including power failure, stuck switch, overwhelmed pump and more.  For this specific home owner, there was a problem with their battery backup.

When SERVPRO of Annapolis/Severna Park assessed the water damage, our water damage and restoration team determined that the effected areas included the storage/sump pump room, the recreational room and a basement bathroom. 

In the recreational room, the laminate floor was removed because there was bound water underneath. Air movers and de-humidifiers were set up to dry the concrete subfloor. The bathroom tile is adhered to concrete subfloor and won’t facilitate mold growth.  The SERVPRO of Annapolis/Severna Park crew treated any effected areas with an anti-microbial and set air movers for a three day dry out.  Lastly, the storage/sump pump room was also treated with an anti-microbial and air movers were set for drying. Our crew removed all furniture during the cleanup process.

After 3 days of drying, the team monitored the effected materials and determined everything was dry.  All equipment was removed and the homeowners are ready to start with their reconstruction.

Bad weather storms and power failures often coincide to make one deadly combination that often results in flooded basements across Anne Arundel County.  This is due to the fact that the heavy rain storms result in excess water and a power outage completely immobilizes your sump pumps ability to drain water.

This problem can be avoided by simply purchasing and installing a backup generator for your sump pump. If you ever lose power during a bad storm, you can manually turn this generator on to ensure your basement does not flood.