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Sump Pump : How to test | Professional Tips – Home Wiz Guy

Hey guys. Welcome to another new blog post from Home Wiz Guy. From the title you may got the idea what I am going to talk about. Yes my today’s topic is sump pump.

What is Sump Pump

Sump Pump Unit

So if you are not familiar with sump pump then let me explain you what it is. A sump pump is nothing but a pump which is used to remove the water accumulated in a water collecting sump basin. Sump Pump very commonly found in the basement or in crawl space of your home. It is installed below the floor so that the sump basin can easily collect the water.

How it work


Hope you understand what is a sump pump is. But another big question arise which is "How it works?". The mechanism is very simple. The pump is equipped with a sensor that can sense the increasing water levels or the water pressure. When the water level gets too high or the water pressure is too much, then the pump starts automatically and pumps out the excess water out of the basement using a discharge pipe that may be connected to the drainage system of your basement of simply just lead the water outside of the home.

After installation of sump pump units

How to test a sump pump


Before testing your sump pump you need to inspect few things. First of all you need to check the discharge pipe is working fine. Make sure that there is no blockage in the discharge pipe or in the drainage system.

Also make sure there is no debris inside the pump. If there is debris inside the pump please remove that or it will clog your pump.

There are 2 way to test your sump pump.

First Step: At the time of installation may be professionals were setup your sump pump and they plugged all the plugs to their right position. So at first you need to unplug the power plugs. If you take a look at the outlet where you sump pump is plugged in, you can see that there are 2 separate plugs. One plug is for the float switch and the other one is for the motor. So you need to unplug both of them. After unplugging those you need to plug the motor plug. If your pump is ok then imminently your pump’s motor will start. If not then you need to replace your pump. So if every thing is ok then you need to put all the plugs in right order as they were before.

Second Step: For this step you need around 20 liters of water. You need to fill your sump pit with those water. It will raise the float until the pump starts. If the pump starts then it will pump out all the water through the discharge pipe or the drainage system. If not then you need to replace your pump.

You can do this without water. All you need to do is you need to lift the float the top with your hand. It will trigger the pump if the pump is ok. But it will not fulfill the main purpose of the testing. You can’t check if your discharge pipe or drainage system is ok or not. So I suggest you to use water. One more thing. If you are doing this dry test please don’t run your pump for more than few seconds. It will damage the pump’s motor.

Those 2 tests are simple but very much effective. Those tests can save your basement to be flooded. Monthly couple of minutes of test can save thousands of dollars.

Normally the lifespan of a sump pump is around 10 years. But if it is not maintained properly then it may needs to be replaced much earlier than regular lifetime.

Shout-Out


Now it is time for some shout-out of those professionals who are experts in this sump pump field.






Is Foundation Issues Affect Home Value? – Expert Opinion From Home Wiz Guy

May be you want to sell your home and already start preparing for that. Or just want to increase the overall value of your home. Whatever the reason is the only thing that can add huge, tremendous value to your home is Foundation. Yes, I am talking about the Foundation or Basement of your home.

We all know that very well, foundation repair is not a cost effective or easy to do. It can easily drag a couple of hundreds to thousands dollar bill. But trust me it will really add a lot of value to your home when you go for selling it.

10% – 15%. Yes, you read that right. 10% – 15% value will be reduced if there is any kind of foundation issues in your home. Wherever you are living right now in USA the amount will be $7500 to $12000 for those 10% – 15%. This is huge amount of money right?

But, now the question is how exactly does the state of your home’s foundation affect its overall value?

Cracked Foundation
Cracked Foundation

Repair Cost


A foundation repair bill may cost you anywhere from few hundred to couple of thousand dollars. It is completely depending on the seriousness of the issue. Now the thing is you are the one who will miss the benefit of the fixing. How? When you are selling your home with foundation issues either you have to pay for the fixing or you have to reduce the price. Remember that if your house has any kind of foundation/basement issues then it will be a major turn-off to potential buyers. So please don’t ignore this. Major or minor, whatever the issue is, fixing will give you major benefits as a seller.

Ripple Effect Issues


You know why I give the most importance to the basement/foundation rather than any other part of any house? It is only because the state of your home’s basement has consequences for nearly every other part of your home. How? Let me explain.

Suppose your foundation is not leveled properly. It will affect the walls and ceiling. It can make crack on those. Un-leveled foundation can affect your windows too. Windows that don’t shut properly or stick shut may be the affect of un-leveled foundation.

Let me give you another example. Suppose your foundation has a crack and your basement or crawlspace is not waterproofed properly. It will lead to mold and mildew and case serious health issues.

So act now. May be it can prevent a higher cost and more extensive repair down the road.

Curb Appeal


Suppose you listed your home to some property trading site and people are interested to see your home physically. What will they see first? Obviously the exterior first. So any kind of foundation issues that are visible from outside of your home will be a big turn off to your potential buyers.

So don’t wait. Fix the issues and increase your home’s demand. Don’t give your buyer the chance to comment on your precious home and argue with the price. So act now and save your home from future issues and increase the value of it.

Shout-Out


So it is time for shout-out. I hope that you already have a good understanding how important your basement/foundation issues to take care. And you will definitely need professional support for this. So here is a list of few companies with their website links. They are well known companies in their local area. You may have heard about them too.


I hope you like my articles. If those blogs are helping you then please let me know. Stay safe. Stay home.

Smart Doorbell : Top 3 Benefits of It – Home Wiz Guy

Hey guys, welcome to another new post from Home Wiz Guy. My today’s topic is smart doorbell. You may already know what is smart doorbell is, but this is for those people who don’t know what is a smart doorbell is and what are the benefits of this advance device now a day.

As you all know here in home wiz guy I am trying to give you a short description of the topic and also try to explain how it works. My previous articles were related to damage restoration and basement repair related. So now I thought why not write something about home security. So here I tried to gather some information about smart doorbell and also try to explain how it works with its benefits.

Lets get into this.

Smart Doorbell


A smart doorbell is a beautiful security device that comes with a Video Doorbell Camera, disguised in the form of an ordinary doorbell. There are lots of home security service provider companies are now providing the customers with a Smart Doorbell that is powered by industry leaders like Qolsys, Alarm.com to make sure the topmost quality of security for your home.


With the ability to see, hear and speak on ASAS’ app installed on your smart mobile devices, you don’t have to make a hasty run or fear an unknown guest, when a visitor presses the doorbell button, anymore. Moreover, you will be sent an alert with the built-in motion sensor even when a visitor doesn’t press the doorbell button – providing additional security. Now you can, record Video, review event history, take snapshot photos of your visitors, and feel safe knowing you can see a visitor, even at night – in full-color HD video.

The advance doorbell devices also have motion detector ability too. Motion detectors have found significant use in commercial applications. The purpose of a motion detector in our Smart Doorbell is used to alert the homeowner or security service when it detects the motion of a possible intruder. Such a detector may also trigger a security camera to record the possible footage of any intruder and can be used as a means of video evidence.

Features of a Smart Doorbell


With so many advance features the doorbells will be installed in your door step. Here is a short list of those excellent features.

  • High definition video with full color night vision
  • Motion sensor alerts
  • Wide angle view
  • Weather and rain proof
  • Wireless connectivity
  • Maximum resolution
  • High zooming capability
  • Monitoring the front door life
  • 2 way audio for speaking from both side
  • Reviewing day’s events while you are away
  • Image capturing

Top 3 Benefits of Doorbells


There’s good reason for the booming growth of this industry. Not only the smart doorbell cameras make your home technologically advanced, but they also give you an extra layer of security and convenience to your home. Here are the top 3 benefits of installing a doorbell camera in your home.

  1. Who is Ringing Your Doorbell : If a smart doorbell is installed, you can easily know who is ringing your doorbell with its advance camera system. With the app installed in your mobile device you can easily check who is ringing. You can capture a photo or record a video of the person. You can also talk to them with 2 way audio feature as I mention earlier. With its night vision ability you can see clearly see who is at your door step at night too. Isn’t is awesome!!
  2. Detect & Catch Thief : Suppose you are away from your home and there are some home delivery packages at your door steps. This smart doorbell system can help you from someone who might be attempting to steal your deliveries. How? Let me explain in brief. When your camera detect any kind of unwanted activities at your front door or where the device is installed it will alert you. If you are away from your home then it will send notifications to your mobile device if your installed the apps provided my the vendor companies. You can easily see who is there. You can take photos or videos too. It will be very helpful to the law enforcement to identify the criminal. So as a smart home owner and a smart citizen of the country you must have a device like this.
  3. Increase Your Home’s Value : Technology continues to advance day by day. And home owners are also showing more and more interest in smart home systems. In fact, home which is connected with smart technologies, specially security and safety technologies are more desirable to potential buyers. Every one want to live in a safe and secure place. So these safety and security technologies are definitely increase your home’s value to buyers.

So these are the benefits and advance features of a smart doorbell system. Hope it will help you to secure you home more effectively.

Shout-Out


It is time for huge shout-out for some my well known home security service provider companies. They are very much capable to provide you the best home security services.




Advanced Systems Alarm ServicesSmart Doorbell Installation in Beaumont & Tyler, TX



This is it for today. let me know if you like it or not. Stay safe and stay at home.