Sump Pumps in Doraville, GA

What Doraville homeowners deal with

Doraville is a small, highly diverse DeKalb city on Buford Highway that grew around the former General Motors assembly plant. Its housing is older than most: median year built 1975, with roughly 60% of homes built before 1980, per census survey data. Many of those houses have crawl spaces or partial basements, and the pumps in them may have been added, replaced or patched over the years.

DeKalb County Department of Watershed Management provides water, and the county runs the sewer system. DeKalb owns the line from the main through the meter; the owner is responsible from the meter in. A sump line tied into a laundry drain or cleanout pushes groundwater into the county's wastewater system, so it should go outdoors.

DeKalb's Backflow Prevention Section covers every DWM water customer. Single-family homes need an assembly on irrigation systems, tested every year by a certified tester. Ask how that applies before choosing a water-powered backup.

Options at a glance

Signs to watch for

• Water standing in the pit after a storm
• A pump that runs without stopping
• Short on-off cycles
• Wet floors or a musty odor
• Rust or a burning smell from the unit
• A discharge pipe outside that never seems to run
• Water slapping back into the basin at shutoff

Timing and permits

Have an older pump checked in a dry month, before storm season. Doraville handles plumbing work through its Trade Permit Application, submitted online through Cloudpermit, and every permit needs a notarized property-owner affidavit. The plumber can tell you if your job needs one. When you call, describe the pump's behavior and whether water is rising, and switch off its breaker if water is near the outlet.