When it rains in Jacksonville, FL you probably look at the amount of rain coming down and wonder if you will have water come into your house. 
If you have water coming into your house you will need to call for plumbing service. There are differences to how floor drains and sump pumps work and the advantages and disadvantages to each. They’ll have different effects on your house and the drainage table in general. In fact there are many meteorological, climate, and neighborhood differences that will affect how rainwater will come into or go around your house, affecting your decision to call for services.
What causes the water coming into my house?
The most common answer here is storms and flooding, but just because you have a storm doesn’t mean you’ll get water every time. The higher the rate of rainfall per hour is the higher the likelihood that water will enter your house. If your neighborhood is on a hill and you’re on the bottom of it you’re going to increase the odds of your house becoming flooded. If you live near a drainage canal or creek you also increase the likelihood of water coming into your house. All of that damage can cause you to call for plumbing service.
As for your house itself you can get water in your house from not only rain but from broken and leaking pipes in your house. These issues will require a call for plumbing service and a wait to get your system repaired. But when a sump pump fails, or a drain pipe backs up there will be differing reasons for why each one fails or causes backups.
Houses with Drain Pipes
If you have a house with only drain pipes you may want a plumbing service to come check your drains. They are linked directly to your local sewer drain system and can back up if the drains are over taxed. These drains are extremely low maintenance and have a low cost. However they do have multiple drawbacks. If you aren’t near the end of a sewer drain run you will increase the likelihood that it will back up into your home. Also, if you live in an area developed along a hill having a house with a drain pipe along the bottom of the hill will also increase the chances of it backing up into the house.
In most newer homes or in most of the area locally you won’t have drain pipes because of the low elevation of Florida in general and the fact that we have the St. John’s River and the closely linked bodies and water will not be in many homes. With all the rain that falls, and the fact that we are so low to sea level there is a pretty good chance that they would back up on a normal basis. Every time they back up you will be calling for plumbing service to get your house back in working order. If you have a house with just a slab or a shallow depth like a crawlspace this will affect you less and your home will have some sort of slope or allowance for some water.
Houses with Sump Pumps
Sump Pumps are systems that are installed in the lowest part of your basement or crawlspace that help push moisture into the sewers or outside the house and keeps it from staying under your house. These are convenient and common to see in the area and help keep water, mold, and mildew, and plumbing service away. They have been something that has been required in many homes built after 1987 and have been retroactively added to many older homes as flooding issues have come up.
To install there is a pit hat has to be dug under your home, usually about two feet deep and about a foot and a half in diameter. In that pit you’ll notice ground water start to fill up. After a certain point the pump, which will be installed over the pit there is a sensor that will suck the water up from the pit that has been collected and push it up and out of the tank through a pipe that is connected to the outside of the house. In many neighborhoods that have direct water system drainage alongside wastewater treatment you can actually have a sump set up to drain directly into the sewer for water source discharge. However, if your sewer system is hooked up to a treatment plant you will likely have your pipe just buried in the back of your lot and it will discharge into your lawn.
Your plumbing service representative will tell you what is best for your house to keep your sump running. Sump pumps will last about a decade for your house and your plumbing service professional should be able to tell you if you need a replacement. Sump pumps are fairly inexpensive to replace but if you don’t do it quickly you will have water coming up into your basement or crawlspace. Many people who have sump pumps also have back ups installed so that when one fails another can keep running until you can buy a new main unit. Without that you will end up having water come into your house and damaging your belongings.
When you’re ready to call for plumbing service in the greater Jacksonville, FL area give a call to Bert Norman’s Plumbing out of Yulee. They have the experience and expertise to give you top quality service and will ensure your job is done right the first time. If you need service for your sump pumps or drainage pipes or have questions about how each option will affect your house during a storm give them a call. The experts at Bert Norman’s Plumbing can also help you with drain cleaning, water heater questions, new plumbing systems or toilet and faucet repair.