After more than a decade working as a licensed plumbing contractor, I’ve learned that sump pump repair is rarely about a single broken part. Most of the calls I get start the same way: “The pump was working fine until it wasn’t.” By the time I’m standing in a damp basement, the real issue has usually been building for months, sometimes years.
One repair job early in my career still shapes how I approach these systems. A homeowner called after their pump stopped running during a heavy rain. They assumed the motor had failed. When I pulled the pump, the motor was fine—the float switch was stuck against the pit wall. It had been installed just a few inches off-center, and sediment buildup finally pinned it in place. That pump didn’t need replacing; it needed someone to recognize a small installation flaw that had turned into a big problem.
I’ve also seen plenty of situations where people replace pumps repeatedly without fixing the underlying cause. A few years back, I worked on a basement where two pumps had burned out in under three years. Both times, the diagnosis was “bad pump.” The real issue was constant short cycling caused by groundwater flowing in faster than the pit could handle. The pump was turning on every couple of minutes, wearing itself out. Adjusting the pit depth and reconfiguring the float solved what years of replacements hadn’t.
Electrical issues are another repair category that gets overlooked. I remember a call last spring where the pump worked intermittently. The homeowner thought it was failing randomly. Tracing the line showed a loose connection in a junction box that had been exposed to moisture for years. Every vibration from the pump made it worse. Tightening the connection and sealing the box restored reliable operation without touching the pump itself. Those are the kinds of fixes you only find by slowing down and checking everything, not just the obvious parts.
Discharge problems show up often during repair visits as well. I’ve inspected systems that technically “worked” but dumped water right back toward the foundation. The homeowner complained that their pump ran constantly and still couldn’t keep the basement dry. Once the discharge was rerouted and pitched correctly, the pump cycled normally again. In those cases, repairing the pump alone would’ve changed nothing.
One opinion I’ve formed over the years is that not every repair is worth doing. If a pump has been running hard for a decade in tough conditions, sometimes replacing it makes more sense than squeezing a few more months out of worn components. I’ve advised against repairs when I knew the system was near the end of its useful life. It’s not the easiest conversation, but it’s better than pretending a temporary fix will hold through the next big storm.
From my experience, good sump pump repair is about understanding why a system failed, not just getting it running again. When the cause is addressed—whether it’s placement, power, cycling, or drainage—the repair lasts. When it isn’t, the basement eventually fills with water again. That difference is what separates a quick fix from a real solution.

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