How do I drill a hole in my house?

[Duncan62]

I’m hesitant to dump saltwater in my basement sump pump for the same reason. If the salt corrodes something and the pump quits working bc of that, I won’t know until water is in the basement.

It's OK to drill a hole in your house. Make it look neat!

 

[Viva'sReef]

Not sure I'd trust my experience completley but my Water Softener dumps its regen water which is salt water into my basement crock. I've also dumped a few batches of salt water into the sump as well that was stagnant. I also run my RO wastewater into it as well. I'm fairly wet where I'm at in Michigan though so my sump pumps out water every 20 minutes or so, every 5 minutes in the spring.

 

[Freenow54]

Well you answered your own question. You cannot run a drain through the wall as it will freeze. Your thought about the sump is valid to me. Salt water not good. You must have floor drains somewhere. The other thought is to drill a hole through the floor of the basement. It would have to be a fair size Say an inch. I worked in heating and AC for 25 years it is a last resort but I did with my furnace which is 11 years old, but depends on the amount of water.

 

[New&no clue]

What is the exact plan for the AWC?

I ask, as you may be able to do awc and just run the line to a drain somewhere else. It all depends on the pump being used and if you need to push or pull the water for the least amount of head pressure.

I wanted to get the Kamoer- X2SR which I believe can pump up like 30ish feet.

As pictured above, I plan to put the AWC next to my sump. Next to the sump is my mixing station. I would pump from there (3ft) to the sump, then pull out of the sump and dump straight up out the side of the wall. However, I am open to other opinions as I am nervous about drilling a hole in the wall of my house.

 

[Freenow54]

You also could just fill a 40 gallon plastic garbage can, and use a cheap quarter horse pump with a hose attachment and put it down a drain, toilet

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I wanted to get the Kamoer- X2SR which I believe can pump up like 30ish feet.

As pictured above, I plan to put the AWC next to my sump. Next to the sump is my mixing station. I would pump from there (3ft) to the sump, then pull out of the sump and dump straight up out the side of the wall. However, I am open to other opinions as I am nervous about drilling a hole in the wall of my house.

How far is the nearest sink drain? You could buy a saddle that will allow for push connect and using 1/4" line to pump the water to there. May be easier to drill a hole from under a sink to the basement, run line over and call it a day. Just be sure to put saddle above the "ring trap".

This is how I have my RODI drain setup for the small system I keep in the house and how I have the AWC done for my 180. I actually come into the crawl space from the living room and run 25' to the nearest bathroom. Being as it is under the house, I just shot it as the crow flies to make the run shorter.

 

[New&no clue]

Well you answered your own question. You cannot run a drain through the wall as it will freeze. Your thought about the sump is valid to me. Salt water not good. You must have floor drains somewhere. The other thought is to drill a hole through the floor of the basement. It would have to be a fair size Say an inch. I worked in heating and AC for 25 years it is a last resort but I did with my furnace which is 11 years old, but depends on the amount of water.

If I drilled the hole at a downward slope, so all the water in the tube outside the house drained each time would that prevent freezing? Or because of how this AWC works (similar to a dosing pump), the water never fully drains, and the angle wouldn't change anything?

 

[Eagle_Steve]

If I drilled the hole at a downward slope, so all the water in the tube outside the house drained each time would that prevent freezing? Or because of how this AWC works (similar to a dosing pump), the water never fully drains, and the angle wouldn't change anything?

You could do something like that, as what is in the house should not freeze and just make the outside a "dump tube".

Doing this, where will you be directing the waste water? If towards grass or plants, it can kill it. If down a driveway, then you can end up with salt dust once the water evaporates.

 

[rmorris_14]

You could do something like that, as what is in the house should not freeze and just make the outside a "dump tube".

Doing this, where will you be directing the waste water? If towards grass or plants, it can kill it. If down a driveway, then you can end up with salt dust once the water evaporates.

Just another food for thought, piggy backing on this comment. Concrete (like a driveway or sidewalk) exposure to lots of salt can cause spalling and degrade the concrete.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I had to do this. What I did is hunted down a cable/dish TV guy in the area and asked him if he was interested in making a fast $20 to drill a quick hole for me.
They have all the tools ready to go. he obliged and it took him 6 minutes

 

[New&no clue]

You could do something like that, as what is in the house should not freeze and just make the outside a "dump tube".

Doing this, where will you be directing the waste water? If towards grass or plants, it can kill it. If down a driveway, then you can end up with salt dust once the water evaporates.

It’s under my deck in the dirt

 

[New&no clue]

Just another food for thought, piggy backing on this comment. Concrete (like a driveway or sidewalk) exposure to lots of salt can cause spalling and degrade the concrete.

Do you think if it’s in the dirt, next to the concrete it would cause problems

 

[Rmckoy]

The concrete is below ground, but above that, you will see insulation, and behind that is just the wood side of the house. That is where I thought I could drill a hole and run a line out.

The reason I don't want to go down the drain is the pump for my basement sump is there and I was worried that having it sit in salt water all day could ruin it

Same goes for pumping salt water outside …

salt on the lawn or anywhere will kill grass .
or leave smelly fish water which could attract wildlife .
I’d vote for a T in a drain

 

[rmorris_14]

Do you think if it’s in the dirt, next to the concrete it would cause problems

Probably fine as long as it doesn’t touch the concrete a lot. You can also put a concrete sealant, to help if you are worried about it.

 

[dadnjesse]

You will be fine drilling a hole above the concrete foundation. I'm sure you have water spickets that go through the same way and those don't freeze as long as your basement has some heat. I have been dumping the salt water through my sump pump for 13 years. I suppose some day the pump will go but so far so good.

 

[Beau_B]

With a long drill bit. Duh.

Masonry bit will go through the concrete, it's done all the time but generally requires a hammer drill which I'll assume you don't have.

I wouldn't recommend discharging 2-3g under your deck through the winter, though admittedly I'm not basing that on any actual experience. While saltwater does have a lower freezing point, it gets cold enough around here that most likely the small (1/4"?) diameter line would freeze/block on a semi-regular basis. If it doesn't, you still would likely end up with a growing ice pile or other complications. Not guaranteed, but suspected.

There are ways to discharge into the waste line directly. Firstly, what height does the main line leave the building? You mentioned the sump pump discharges into the sewer line (is it actually city sewer?). Forgetting that it's "disallowed" to discharge sump pumps into city waste water lines (I do it, don't sweat it) then where that pump enters the main line could potentially also house the AWC waste line. Or cut a new trap in with stand pipe and don't worry about venting it because the volume is so low... I might be getting too far down the road.

Circle back: how far away and what's the plumbing for your sump pump to waste line look like?

 

[Kodski]

Alright, handyman/remodeler here in a fellow freezing cold state. (Wisconsin)

Ideally your AWC drains into an existing drain, INSIDE the house. Anything outside the house WILL freeze eventually. All it takes is one time to cause some serious issues. Salinity creep, ruined pumps, ect. Plus, what happens to the saltwater once it exits the house? If it just drains into the yard, the continual salt build up will kill the grass or plants in the area. Once it starts to freeze outside, you'll have a giant icicle forming on the ground. This extra water constantly being dumped in the ground next to the the house has the potential to cause issues with the foundation as well. A huge risk with an easy alternative.

Now, that being said. I see you haven't answered if there is an existing drain line in the basement. I'm willing to bet 100% your main drain line runs down into the basement and under the basement slab. It would be a large 4" diameter PVC pipe. You can easily tie into this pipe if need be.

 

[LeftyReefer]

Yes, I have a sump pump in my basement already, but I was worried about ruining the pump as it's not meant to be submerged in saltwater all day.

my sump basin has groundwater draining in all day long, so any small amounts of saltwater I run down the basin is flushed out continuously. We have high ground water around here, so my basement pumps run off/on all day long, all year long. A little saltwater doesn't even factor in when talking about a few gallons here and there.

 

[Pistondog]

I'd drain to the sump like @dadnjesse , as it already goes to the sewer line. Now post a pic of the sump pump nameplate and we can determine if it is saltwater suitable.

 

[fishguy242]

what about your furnace ?
does it have an existing floor drain ?