I don’t know what is going on with my sump pump. It use to come on all the time, but for the past 4 years, it hasn’t come on. Every time I check the sump hole, it is dry as a bone. I’ve recently started paying attention to it because I do have a moisture problem in my basement. Not alot of water but enough to leave a wet spot under certain objects left on the floor. I am currently trying the plastic patch test for moisture. I have noticed moist soil around the foundation days after it has rained. And the worst of it is the millipede infestation that has happened the last 2 years. They seem to have singled my house out, (neither one of my neighbors) have them and they seem to be coming up into the basement between the walls and the slab. My exterminator suggested that I might have water under my foundation.
The bugs will not go away. I don’t want to seal the concrete because that isn’t going to fix the problem.
Does anybody have any similar experience with a bone dry sump pump and what that might mean. Am I on the right track thinking that I have a drainage problem?
Reported for forum change. This post might be more at home in IMHO or General Questions.
That said, welcome to the SDMB! I don’t know anything about your particular question, I just wanted to help get it in the right place so some other folks can weigh in.
The patch test will show you if water, or rather, moisture is coming up through your slab. The moisture isn’t going to fill your sump. The sump is typically filled either by drain tile around the perimeter of your house (inside or outside the foundation) to deal with water running down the side of the house or it’s just a hole dug in the earth to keep the (local, very local) water table down a few feet below the basement. Damp earth isn’t going to seep into the sump, at least not to the point where it clicks on every few hours or even every few days.
If the patch tests shows that you have moisture penetrating the slab, I’d look into getting a dehumidifier for the basement. They’re expensive so if one doesn’t cut it, I’d probably just stick one or two oscillating fans down there as well to keep the air moving rather than adding more dehumidifiers. Also, I’d put the fans on timers, they really only need to be on for an hour or so a few times a day, not running constantly. They just need to get the air over to the dehumidifier and it’ll click on and dry that air out.
Furthermore, find the setting on the dehumidifier where the wet spots dry up. IME, if you set it to the lowest (humidity) setting it’s just going to run and run and run and never or rarely stop. Either because it’ll never get your basement that dry or it’ll start drawing humidity in.
You might also look to see if you can find a crack in the slab seal it up If you don’t find one, I’d spray bug killer around the edge of the foundation where it meets the slab, that spot is, more or less, open to the earth so the bugs may be coming in there. Also, check to make sure there’s water in the trap in your floor drain. If you can’t see with a flashlight, dump some water down there. That’s another point of entry for bugs (or rodents) and should be flushed from time to time.
I will start looking for a dehumidifier. I live in Colorado where it is typically dry, however I have noticed when it does get humid, the doors in the basement will swell and won’t close without a pushing. I don’t know if that is normal for these parts, but I think a dehumidifier will help alot.
So would it be benificial to seal that space between wall and slab with some type of epoxy ?