Sump pump replacement in McLean.
Sump pump replacement in McLean: $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
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McLean sump pumps: postwar basements, infill lots and tower garages.
Eight in ten homes in 22101 are detached houses, and the median home there has nine rooms or more. Close to four in ten were built in the 1950s and 60s, when a McLean rambler or split-level usually got a basement or a lower level set into the slope. Plenty of those were dug without a sump. Where a pit is there now, it was often cut into the floor decades later, and the pump in it today is rarely the first one.
In a basement that age, the first thing we check is where the pump sends its water. Fairfax County counts French drains, downspouts and sump pumps tied into the sanitary sewer as unpermitted connections, and calls them illegal, because that water can overload the sewer and push raw sewage into creeks, onto streets and back into basements. A discharge pipe that drops into a floor drain or the laundry line is the giveaway. Rerouting it outside is the discharge line work named beside the price.
About one home in seven in 22101 went up in 2010 or later. When a new house on an existing lot gets a sump pump, Fairfax County’s infill lot grading plan has to show where it empties and carry the county’s sump note: at least ten feet out from the foundation, ten feet back from the property line downhill where the lot allows, no ponding on the neighbor’s side, and no concentrated flow across a public sidewalk or over the curb. A replacement pump ties into that same outlet line.
In 22102 close to half the homes are in buildings of 50 units or more, where a pump in the garage or lowest level usually belongs to the building. A sump pump that’s yours there is most likely in a townhouse or one of the detached houses, about one 22102 home in five, and it’s the same $697 job as in 22101.
Sump pumps across McLean, place by place.
Census figures for the owner-occupied homes in each place, and what to check on a sump pump in houses that age.
| Place | Median home built | Most homes are | Heated with | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McLean | 1977 | single-family houses, about 8 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Older basements: check where the sump line empties. |
| Tysons | 1985 | condo and apartment buildings, about 7 in 10 | electricity, about 5 in 10 | Condo buildings: shared pits are the association’s to look after. |
McLean houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey, owner-occupied homes unless it says otherwise.
McLean
ZIPs 22101 and 22102 as a whole: every McLean address, Tysons included.
- Built before 1980about 4 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 3 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 5 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 7 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 4 in 10 Census
- 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 McLean.
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 McLean needs replacing.
You’re in Fairfax County and want a backup
The county’s Flood Mitigation Assistance Program pays back half of a battery backup, up to its cap, after the work is done and paid for. Not the pump itself, and not homes in the Town of Vienna, the Town of Herndon or the City of Fairfax.
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 McLean, 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.
How to pick the best plumber for a sump pump in McLean.
Questions to ask anybody who quotes you, us included.
Did they check every pit in the house?
A nine-room house can have more than one: a pit for the foundation drain, and another by a walkout door or an areaway drain. Ask for every pit to be checked, even if only one is failing today.
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.
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Sump pump questions from McLean.
Can a renter or a condo association in McLean use the county’s backup program?
Both can. Fairfax County’s Flood Mitigation Assistance Program takes applications from renters with the owner’s approval and from condo and homeowners associations with their board’s, and every McLean home is inside its area, since it leaves out only the Town of Vienna, the Town of Herndon and the City of Fairfax. It wants the work finished first, with any permit it needed, an itemized invoice, proof of payment and photos of the installation.
Why does the pump in our newer McLean house run for days after rain?
Most likely it’s groundwater, not the storm. A newer basement is usually ringed by a foundation drain that ends in the pit, and when Fairfax County reviews a grading plan for a new subdivision lot, it asks for that drain plus an underdrain wherever the basement floor will sit less than two and a half feet above the groundwater. Water in the soil keeps finding the drain long after the gutters stop.
What kind of storm floods McLean, and what should I check after one?
Heavy summer rain, mostly: the ones on record here came in July and August. NOAA’s storm records show Lewinsville Road closed by flooding near Lewinsville Mews on July 21, 2018, and Chesterbrook Road closed at Little Pimmit Run on August 16, 2021. On July 14, 2025, two to four inches in a short time brought several water rescues in the Tysons and McLean area, and a month later at least six inches of water ran across Old Chesterbrook Road at Pimmit Run. After one, see that the pump started, emptied the pit and shut off, then call us and we’ll check the pump, the check valve and where the discharge goes.
How much does sump pump replacement cost in McLean?
$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.
More from SwiftPro in McLean.
More from SwiftPro in McLean
A new pump before the next storm.
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