On Wed, 21 Mar 2007 21:56:11 GMT, "Donna"
wrote:

... my basement, I mean.

We badly need a sump pump. Maybe two, but definitely one where the water
pools every spring.

Is that in the middle of the floor, or near the edge. Like the other
guy asked, how is the water getting there?

warily eyeing the melting snow

How hard is it to install a sump pump? Is that a job for a pro, or can I do
it with power tools? We have a fieldstone basement,

So is the water coming in through the rocks? Are the walls painted?

with a cement floor.
There is no well yet, just a low spot that collects water.

Any and all advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

You need to give more details.

Donna

The hard part of digging the sump is getting through the cement, which
iiuc is likely to be 6? inches thick.

The hard part about getting through the cement imo would be keeping
the boundaries of the hole you are making within bounds.

If it were a one-inch piece of cement, you could draw a boundry and
use a cold chisel and a heavy hammer, and by all means goggles, to
chisel a quater or half inch line to mark the border, and then when
you went after the middle**, the hole would probably remain within the
lines.

**See if you can lift the lightest electric jack hammer they rent, or
is there a better tool for this. The jack hammer was easy to use.
And lifting it was easy the first few times, but that got harder
quickly as I got tired. I'm 5'8" and my arms were almost parallel to
tthe ground. If I had been taller, or had stood on something 4 to 8
inches high, it would have been easier. But if you rent for a whole
day, you can rest in between. But there must be something smaller and
lighter for a little hole like this, even if it 6? inches thick.

But since it's a lot thicker, is that what one uses a power hamnmer
for? Or an air chisel? Can she rent a compressor and is there a
cemenmt cutting device?

Or should she just make the hole and then replace whatever cement
breaks that shoudlnt' have.

After you are through the floor, digging the rest of the hole should
be pretty easy, and then you have to line the hole with a cylinder of
some sort so that the earth doesn't collapse. Then make an exit for
the cisharge pipe, and run the water away from your house. Putting in
the pump and connecting it should be pretty easy.