Sump pump and backwater valve installation and repair

Basement taking water, a sump pump that never stops, or worried about sewer backup in the next storm? Tell us about it and a local plumber who covers your town gets back to you with a quote.

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A sump pump and a backwater valve solve two different problems. A sump pump lifts groundwater that collects around the foundation and pumps it out and away from the house. A backwater valve sits in the main sewer line and closes when the municipal sewer backs up, so sewage cannot come up through a floor drain. A basement can need one, the other or both — and in a heavy storm, either one failing is how a finished basement floods.

Across York Region, Caledon and Toronto, a great many basements are finished, and many homes from the 1950s to the 1990s were built before backwater valves were common. Rural and moraine properties — around King City, Nobleton, Oak Ridges, Palgrave and Stouffville — deal more with groundwater, where the sump pump is the first line of defence and a backup pump matters when the power goes out in the same storm.

Installing a backwater valve usually means cutting into the basement floor at the main drain, and in most Ontario municipalities it needs a plumbing permit; ask the plumber whether they will take it out. Some municipalities run subsidy programs for this work — the City of Toronto's Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy Program is one. Terms change and some programs must be applied for before the work starts, so ask your municipality before you book.

York Simcoe Plumbing is a free referral service: your request goes to one independent local plumber who covers your town, and they quote and do the work.

What to Tell the Plumber

Whether water comes up through a floor drain (often a sewer backup) or seeps in at the walls and floor (often groundwater).
Whether you already have a sump pit, and roughly how old the pump is.
Whether the basement is finished, and where the main drain and floor drains are.
Whether you want a battery or water-powered backup pump.
Whether you plan to apply to a municipal subsidy program, so the permit and paperwork are right from the start.

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Sump pumps and backwater valves: Questions, Answered

It depends on where the water comes from. Water backing up through a floor drain usually points to the sewer, which is what a backwater valve addresses. Water seeping through walls or the floor, or a high water table, is what a sump pump handles. Many basements in this area benefit from both, and a plumber can look at your drains and tell you which applies.

Some Ontario municipalities run basement flooding subsidy programs, and the City of Toronto has one for backwater valves and sump pumps. Programs, amounts and rules change, and some must be applied for before the work is done. Ask your municipality whether one is running for your address before you book.

Generally outside and away from the foundation, onto your own property where the water can soak in or drain away. Most municipalities do not allow sump water into the sanitary sewer. Rules differ, so check yours, and ask the plumber to route the discharge to suit.

In spring or after heavy rain, a pump that runs often may just be keeping up with a high water table. A pump that cycles constantly in dry weather can point to a stuck float switch, a failed check valve letting water flow back into the pit, or a pump that is too small. Each of those is a common repair.

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York Simcoe Plumbing is a free referral service: your request goes to one independent local plumber, who quotes and does the work. We may receive compensation when you are connected with a plumber; there is no charge to you.