Sump pump replacement in Arlington.
Sump pump replacement in Arlington: $697 installed in your existing pit. A new pit, a battery backup, outside drain work or new wiring is extra.
- Cast iron pump, quiet check valve
- Extras priced in writing first
- Dedicated plumbing team
Book your sump pump replacement
Old clay foundation drains and buried streams under Arlington basements.
Start with whether there’s a pit at all. Only about a quarter of Arlington’s homes are detached houses and about one in eleven a townhouse; more than half are in buildings of ten units or more, where a sump pump, if there is one, usually serves the whole building. The pumps owners replace are mostly in the houses and rowhouses, and two National Register nominations spell out the basements: each of Glebewood Village’s 104 rowhouses from 1937 and 1938 has one, and so do the houses of Westover, built in phases from 1939 into the 1950s.
In those basements the pit can be younger than the house. Arlington’s floodproofing checklist says most older houses here were built with clay foundation drains that break down after many years, and flooding can follow. One answer it describes is an interior drain along the walls feeding a sump pump, so a 1930s or 40s basement may have a pit dug decades after its foundation was poured. When we swap the pump, that pit gets checked first, because a cracked or shallow liner shortens the life of whatever sits in it.
Where the water comes from is local too. The County says most recent flood damage in Arlington has been interior flooding, rain overwhelming the soil and the neighborhood drains outside FEMA’s mapped floodplains, often in low spots where streams were buried during the county’s early building. So flood risk can change from one lot to the next on the same street, and a basement over an old stream bed may run its pump hard in a summer cloudburst while the one next door barely wakes up.
The County’s advice on pumps is brief: if your house needs one, give it a battery backup for when the power goes out, and check on it regularly, especially past eight years old. Its checklist adds two points about the water’s last stop: let it out where it can soak in rather than across a neighbor’s yard, and insulate any pump set outside the house so it can’t freeze.
Arlington houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey, owner-occupied homes unless it says otherwise.
Arlington
- Median home built1960 Census
- Built before 1980about 5 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 3 in 10 Census
- Most homes arecondo and apartment buildings, about 6 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 6 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 6 in 10 Census
- Houses that age can still have a sump or foundation drain tied into the sewer line from decades ago, which several Northern Virginia codes now forbid.
- In condo buildings, a pit that serves the building belongs to the association; your documents say which pumps are yours.
What sump pump replacement costs in Arlington.
The same price as our sump pump replacement page: one flat number for a new pump in a pit that’s still sound, with what costs extra named right beside it.
- Sump pump replacement, installed in your existing pit$697
- Sump pump and battery backup, installed together$3,200
- A new or deeper pit, discharge line work outside, or a dedicated circuitPriced in writing before we start
$697 covers a new cast iron pump, a quiet check valve, new PVC up to your existing discharge line, a battery water alarm by the pit, the old pump hauled away and a bucket test before we leave.
A battery backup keeps pumping through a power outage, and the outage usually comes with the storm. With a new pump, the pair is $3,200 installed. The sump pump estimator helps you decide whether you need one.
When a sump pump in Arlington needs replacing.
Water creeps in where the floor meets the wall
In an older Arlington basement that can be the original clay foundation drain giving out, the failure the County’s checklist describes. If the house has no pit yet, a new one is an extra and gets its own written price first.
You’re in a condo
A pit that serves the building is the association’s to keep up; one inside your own unit is usually yours. Your condo documents say for sure.
It’s past seven years old
Zoeller, who make a lot of the pumps around here, puts a sump pump’s life at seven to ten years. Past seven, replace it on your schedule instead of the storm’s.
After a storm in Arlington, check the sump pump.
Six checks you can make yourself once the rain lets up, none of them with your hands in the pit. Then call us and we’ll check it all.
Does the pump kick on?
Watch the pit during the rain or right after. The pump should start as the water rises, empty the pit and shut off. A full pit, or a pump that hums and moves nothing, isn’t keeping up.
Is there water where it shouldn’t be?
Walk the basement: the corners, the walls, the floor by the pit, under the water heater and the furnace. Photograph any wet spot before you mop, so we can see where it came in.
Is the discharge line clear?
Outside, find where the pump’s pipe ends. It should be open, not crushed, buried or full of leaves, and aimed away from the house so the water doesn’t run back to the foundation.
Does the check valve hold?
Listen when the pump shuts off. Water rushing back into the pit means the check valve isn’t closing, and the pump has to move that water again.
Did the power go out?
The pump stops when the power does, often at the height of the storm. If the basement took water during an outage, that’s the job a battery backup does.
Water near an outlet? Stay out.
If water is standing near the pit, an outlet or anything plugged in, don’t wade in to check. Call us, and only switch the power off at the panel from somewhere dry.
Not sure what you saw? Call us after a storm and we’ll check it all: the pump, the float, the check valve, the discharge line and where the water came in. If the pump can’t keep up, a new one is $697 installed in your existing pit; a new or deeper pit, a battery backup, discharge line work outside and a dedicated circuit are extra, priced in writing before we start.
Where a sump pump may drain in Arlington.
Arlington County
Arlington’s storm and sanitary sewers are separate pipes, but until the 1960s foundation and area drains were allowed to connect to the sanitary side. In a heavy rain, that water can overload the sewer and push it back into homes. Source.
How to pick the best plumber for a sump pump in Arlington.
Questions to ask anybody who quotes you, us included.
Will they tell you if the pump empties into the sewer?
A pump in a pre-1960s Arlington basement may still send its water into the sanitary sewer, for the reason the County gives above. Ask whoever replaces it to follow the discharge line to where it actually ends, and to tell you if that’s a sewer pipe.
Is the price for the whole job?
Ask what the number covers: the pump, the check valve, the pipe, hauling the old one off, a test before they leave. Then ask what costs extra, and get it in writing.
What’s the new pump made of?
Cast iron, ideally. Plastic pumps cost less and are usually the ones that quit early. Ask before the old one comes out.
Do they look at where the water goes?
A discharge line that’s cracked, buried or frozen shut every January leaves the new pump pushing against a closed pipe. Whoever replaces it should check the outside end too.
What our customers say.
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Sump pump questions from Arlington.
I own an Arlington rental with a sump pump. Can you work around my tenant?
Yes. We do more work through landlords and property managers in Arlington than in almost any other town, so condo buildings, tenant scheduling and access rules are routine for us there. Tell us who has the key and who approves the price, and replace an aging pump between storms rather than after a tenant calls about a wet floor.
How fast does the water come up in an Arlington storm?
Faster than most people expect. On July 8, 2019, Four Mile Run passed its 12 foot flood stage at 8:16 in the morning and crested at 15.3 feet half an hour later, and the same storm washed away a steel and concrete footbridge in Bluemont Park. On June 13, 2025, Four Mile Run and Wren Branch both jumped their banks. A pump that sat idle through a dry spell gets no warning before a morning like that, so once the rain stops, watch yours empty the pit, and call us to check the pump, the check valve and where the line comes out.
How much does sump pump replacement cost in Arlington?
$697 installed in your existing pit: a new cast iron pump, a quiet check valve, new PVC to your discharge line, a battery water alarm, the old pump hauled away and a bucket test. A new or deeper pit, discharge line work outside, a battery backup and a dedicated circuit are extra, priced in writing before we start. A new pump and a battery backup installed together are $3,200.
Can I check my sump pump myself?
Yes. Pour five gallons of water into the pit. The float should rise, the pump should start within a few seconds, and it should shut off clean once the water’s down. If you hear water rushing back into the pit after it stops, that’s the check valve.
Sump pump replacement in the towns next door.
- Sump pump replacement in Falls Church
- Sump pump replacement in Alexandria
- Sump pump replacement in Dunn Loring
- Sump pump replacement in Annandale
- Sump pump replacement in McLean
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A new pump before the next storm.
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SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing is a licensed, BBB Accredited (A rating), independently owned heating, cooling and plumbing company in Chantilly, serving Arlington and the rest of Northern Virginia. Virginia contractor license #2705192276. 5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. SwiftPro maintains a dedicated HVAC team and a dedicated plumbing team.
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