My basement flooded during that big storm last April and I found out my sump pump was 12 years old

Drew Gonzalez · 2026-07-15T02:50:04.029266+00:00

Honestly I never even thought about checking the sump pump until water started creeping up through the floor drains. It was around midnight and I had to grab buckets and a shop vac from my dad's garage just to keep up. The next morning a plumber told me the pump was ancient and the float switch had just given out. Cost me $450 for a new one and installation. Anyone else put off maintenance like this until something breaks?

amy9742mo ago

Just assuming it's fine until it isn't" - that's literally me with everything in my house lol. I actually read somewhere that sump pumps only last about 10 years on average, so 12 years was really pushing it.

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dixon.iris2mo ago

Oof, that midnight scramble with buckets is the worst. I feel like we all have that one thing in the house we just assume is fine until it isn't. I had a similar moment with my furnace a few years back, it just quit in the middle of January and I was kicking myself for not at least having it looked at. It's so easy to let that stuff slide when nothing's gone wrong yet, but the moment it does, you're just paying for it in stress and emergency service calls. 450 bucks is rough, but at least you got it sorted before a real mess. Makes you want to check everything else in the house right now, doesn't it?

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black.jake2mo ago

Did you at least get a decent brand out of it? I had the exact same thing happen with my water heater last winter, woke up to cold water and a puddle on the basement floor...

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