March 2022

You have probably heard about a sump pump and its importance to a building before. Sump pump installation can go a long way in preventing water from damaging your property and belongings. But a sump pump is not quite different from other appliances in your home as it can also have some issues.

Although various reasons could be responsible for sump pump failure, some reasons are more common than others. So, what is the most common reason for sump pump failure?

Power failure

Without mincing words, power failure or outage is the most common reason behind sump pump failure. When power fails or goes off, your sump pump may be able to collect water and send it to the wastewater system for some periods. However, after a while, it will stop working; hence, your basement and other crawlspaces will be flooded with lots of water. Over time, your home may experience water damage.

It is worthwhile to note that heavy rainstorms, hail, winds, lightning strikes, and flooding are the major causes of the power outage or failure. In some situations, your sump pump may experience power failure even if other parts of your home don’t lose power.

As your basement is flooded, the circuit breaker or another component of the pump could also stop working. In other cases, adverse weather conditions may cause a power outage in your locality for an extended period.

How to deal with power failure

The best way to deal with sump pump failure is to prevent it from happening. You don’t want to wait until a power outage has happened before you start looking for a way to deal with it. Therefore, you must be proactive in coping with power failure.

·       Install service entrance surge protection device

During sump pump installation, you should also consider installing a service entrance surge protection device. With this device, a power surge will not destroy any component of your pump. Hence, your sump pump will continue functioning after a power surge.

·       Install a sump pump alarm

A sump pump alarm is a tool that alerts you when your sump pump is no longer working. This alarm helps you to take timely action and reduce the risk of water damage. You should think about installing this alarm during the sump pump installation.

·       Have a battery-powered or hydraulic sump pump as a backup

Another essential way to deal with power failure or outage is to install a battery-powered sump pump as a backup. Since such backup doesn’t rely on an electrical source, it will still be able to send out water from your basement even if power fails.

As an alternative to a battery-powered sump pump, you may want to install a hydraulic sump pump. Since water pressure powers the pump, electric failure will have no impact on it.

Apart from power outage/failure, other common causes of sump pump failure include poor installation, wrong sump pump size, old age, and switch issues. Lack of maintenance, overworked pump, blocked or frozen discharge lines, and product defects can also lead to sump pump failure.

Condos are unarguably one of the best solutions to residential problems in the city. However, one of the challenges of the condo is its small space. If you are considering getting a condo or you have rented one already, you can invest in condo renovation to get the most from your condo. It is possible to make more space in your condo. As a result, 5 ways to get more space out of a small condo:

1. Use Multipurpose Furniture In The Living Room

One of the best ways to get more space out of a small condo is to use multipurpose furniture in the living room. The convertible or multipurpose furniture can serve as seats for you and guests and you can convert the furniture into a comfortable spot when you want to relax. Rather than buying a regular sofa, you should consider buying a sofa bed. Besides, use a folding coffee table that can be arranged and used as stools for sitting and folded back to save space.

2. Install Wall Cabinets

Another condo renovation you can consider to get more space from your condo is to get rid of bulky cabinets and big racks in your kitchen. You can stick to the built-in cabinets and install wall cabinets to take care of items you used to keep in the bulky cabinets. You can also add open shelves to keep away several kitchen items. This will give you more free space to move in the kitchen. Your kitchen will not look overcrowded. You can also install slim shelves on the walls instead of decals or cabinets that take up space.

3. Choose a Storage Bed

Another way to get more space from a small condo is to put a storage bed in the room. Storage beds have compartments for keeping items and belongings that you do not use frequently. Besides, some storage beds have headboards, additional space to store your belongings. This will help create free space in the room as your bed will help keep clutters away.

4. Fix the Bathroom

Condo renovation continues with a quick fix to the bathroom. Make your bathroom classy and compact. Take out unnecessary cabinets or furniture to make your bathroom look more spacious. Fix a floating shelf to the wall to store toiletries and other essentials.

5. Play The Colour Game

One of the ways to make a small condo look bigger is to paint the walls with pastel and neutral colours. The all-light palette works best to make the room lighter and bigger. The walls painted with lighter colours will create an illusion of a wider space.

Takeaway

When you are thinking about the right condo renovation for you, consider the 5 ways to get more space out of a small condo discussed above. The tips will let you have more space in your small condo.