water in basement

[uncgirl98]

I used to live in Romeoville and our basement flooded twice in one summer during storms (500-year flood plain).

Make sure you check where the sump pump is pumping water to.....if it's coming out near the house, it's just going back where it came from.

Now I'm in NC and we see hurricanes.....and people still don't have generators.

[toonces93]

What happened to these people is not uncommon and the battery back up is a good but not sure fire remedy as they are sometimes slower than your regular sump.
One thing we did and I would do if I were you is talk to your insurance agent about an additional rider on your homeowners ins. that covers sump failure or sewer backup. It would cover an occurrence like that which happened to your sellers. Regular homeowners insurance does not cover it, and most people find that out the hard way when they try to file a claim. In short, anything below grade (that is, in your basement) is not covered unless you make special provisions. It costs us about $125/yr. extra and is well worth it...it covered us for over $7K in damage when the city sewers backed up into our house with an overhead sewer line.
Now, if I only had a generator I would feel even more secure...

[gwilson67]

When I purchased my home years ago, it also had some water damage due to the sump pump failing. I have since had the same problem occur a few years back. The backup sump should eliminate this from happening again.