Draining sump pit to a field tile; Cost of horizontal (trenchless) drilling

[urtlking2jo]

I bought a home that abuts some land we already owned. The previous owner has a sump pit/pump that works, but he lived dangerously - no back-up pump, no generator, etc. It's not like water flows into the basement, but the pump runs pretty often - and not only when it rains.

Anyway, since the grade drops pretty quickly behind the home, I thought I'd run a drain line from the sump pit to a tile in the field and let gravity do the work. It's about 10-20' below the pit as far as I can tell, and about 250' away. There are some old oak trees that I don't want to damage by trenching, and the trench would have to be really deep - so I'm looking into trenchless/horizontal drilling options.

I had a local contractor out to take a look last week and everything sounded feasible. I haven't received his quote yet, but I'm trying to determine what might be reasonable (whether or not it's worth trying to find someone else who does this locally and get a quote). Any thoughts on what a project like this "should" cost? He said they'd have to knock out a little concrete in the basement and dig around the sump pit to create a little more room, but I'm mostly wondering about the cost to horizontally bore a 3" pipe for 250' feet. I have no idea what stuff like this costs. Thanks.

 

[Deere Dude]

Is it a continuous slope downhill to your other field. Just curious, would it be 10-20' below the surface where you desire the line to be.

I also have no idea of boring costs, but I would be afraid to ask. It just sounds expensive to me.

I ran a 4" tile somewhat like yours but just ran it to where it was below the sump pump elevation and had it come to the surface in the lawn. Watered the grass that way.

Maybe a backup 12 volt pump might help, but a direct drain to outside would be the best.

 

[Looking4new]

My sump pump runs out to a 3" pipe laid on top of the ground with a down slope of about 2' over 20'. It has been like that for 21 years and hasn't froze up yet. Don't forget that our winters the temps get down to -40F.
I think you are making more work and expense for yourself.

 

[urtlking2jo]

It is not a continuous slope behind the home. The yard is fairly flat, with some downward slope near the back, then after about 150' it drops fairly quickly for a few hundred feet.

It sounds like you did roughly what I'm thinking, only my first point below the sump pump is outside my yard, so I'll be watering the field (or the lagoon if I tie into the drain tile).

 

[urtlking2jo]

My sump pump runs out to a 3" pipe laid on top of the ground with a down slope of about 2' over 20'. It has been like that for 21 years and hasn't froze up yet. Don't forget that our winters the temps get down to -40F.
I think you are making more work and expense for yourself.

That sounds like what we have now - only the our drain line run is a bit longer. I think it has only frozen once in 10 years. It's more the pumping situation that has me worried. I'd rather have gravity doing the draining than building a complex dual pump, battery back-up system that still has the potential to fail. Granted, if boring costs $5K, I agree with you and won't be pursing this option!

 

[Sprinklerman]

Dirrectional drilling in y area of Maryland runs $12 to $20 dollars a foot and you supply the pipe . A 250 foot run takes a larger machine .

 

[Looking4new]

That sounds like what we have now - only the our drain line run is a bit longer. I think it has only frozen once in 10 years. It's more the pumping situation that has me worried. I'd rather have gravity doing the draining than building a complex dual pump, battery back-up system that still has the potential to fail. Granted, if boring costs $5K, I agree with you and won't be pursing this option!

I will attempt to explain my sump hole set up in a little more detail. Out of the column type sump pump through the 1.25" PVC pipe and into the basement rafters, 3" pipe starts in the basement and runs through the trusses to the basement wall 25' away and through, the wall. [That puts the pipe on a down slope of about 6" over the 25' run.] The water comes out the pipe[3' above grade] and into a 90* L-bow and into a barrel that I cut a round hole out of the side at the bottom, and another 3" pvc pipe carries the water into a sort of sampy area to the south of my house. [Still on my property.]
Very seldom will running water freeze. Any residue that IS frozen in the pipe will be thawed out by the next run of the sump pump.

Column type sump pumps cost about $100.oo up here and I have one in the hole and a new one spare. They will run on a generator as I have been running mine for 20+ years, every time the electric goes out, which is often.

 

[rd_macgregor]

I have no sump pump. My basement sump connects to a drain system I installed to carry roof water from the downspouts away from the house. The 4" drain tile goes downhill from the house into a "dry well", an excavated pit filled with stone, then covered and sodded over. This has worked pretty well for me; fortunately, I only had to trench around the house and maybe 50' to 70' down the hill....a 250 ft run would be much more challenging. Actually, I probably ended up doing a couple of hundred feet when all was said and done. I did the work with a rented mini-excavator.
Is there anybody in your neck of the woods with a continuous ditcher/trencher (wheel, ladder or chain type)? It might be worth comparing cost (and weighing any difference against the disturbance to your yard!). Your soil (sub-soil) type might also recommend one approach over another.

 

[LD1]

I'd be darned surprised if you get 250' bored for anything less than $3k

 

[urtlking2jo]

I will attempt to explain my sump hole set up in a little more detail. Out of the column type sump pump through the 1.25" PVC pipe and into the basement rafters, 3" pipe starts in the basement and runs through the trusses to the basement wall 25' away and through, the wall. [That puts the pipe on a down slope of about 6" over the 25' run.] The water comes out the pipe[3' above grade] and into a 90* L-bow and into a barrel that I cut a round hole out of the side at the bottom, and another 3" pvc pipe carries the water into a sort of sampy area to the south of my house. [Still on my property.]
Very seldom will running water freeze. Any residue that IS frozen in the pipe will be thawed out by the next run of the sump pump.

Column type sump pumps cost about $100.oo up here and I have one in the hole and a new one spare. They will run on a generator as I have been running mine for 20+ years, every time the electric goes out, which is often.

Thanks for the further explanation. I don't have a reliable generator at the moment - though purchasing one sounds like a cheaper option than what I'm thinking. I guess I think about the scenario where I'm out of town (in-laws live 300 miles away, so we're often gone for a week around the holidays when ice has knocked our power out for a day or two). I guess I thought by the time I bought a generator that could turn on automatically and had a backup pump installed, I'd have spent quite a bit. If I spent a little more (was thinking double), I could have a solution that was fairly foolproof and wouldn't require much ongoing maintenance. But, maybe I'm overestimating the cost of a back-up pump/generator and underestimating the cost of boring.