Issue 02 — The Work, Line by Line
Four Systems.
One Dry Cellar.
Every job below is quoted flat, in writing, after a measured survey. Materials, permits where required, debris removal and start-up testing are inside the number. We do not bill for travel inside the mile square.
How we size it
Measure
the pit.
Not the
fear.
Recovery rate in gallons per minute, head height to the street, discharge run length, and the age of the pipe it all has to pass through.
The survey decides the equipment
“If nobody has told you your pit’s recovery rate, nobody has sized your pump.”
We arrive with a bucket, a stopwatch, a clamp meter and a tape. We fill, we drain, we time the refill, and we read the current your existing pump actually pulls under load. That gives the gallons per minute your basement produces in a saturated condition, which is the only honest basis for choosing a backup.
From there we check the discharge: how far it runs, how high it lifts, whether it exits into a dry well, a curb line, or — as happens on older Hoboken rows — straight into a sanitary connection that the city no longer permits. We photograph nothing; we draw it, measure it, and write it up.
You get a one-page plan: pump model and horsepower, battery amp-hours and expected runtime, sensor positions, valve type, and the sequence of work with a date. Co-op and condo owners get a second copy formatted for the board.
Service detail
Prices are typical Hoboken brownstone ranges, not estimates for your building.
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01
Battery Backup Sump Systems
Sealed AGM battery in a vented box, smart charger with low-voltage alarm, secondary pump on an independent float set two inches above the primary, and a separate check valve so the two pumps never fight. We bench-test runtime before we leave and label the shutoff. From $1,780 installed; dual-battery builds from $2,640.
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02
Wi-Fi Flood Sensor Networks
Hard-floor pucks and cable probes placed at the pit rim, boiler pad, water heater, laundry pan and the inside face of the areaway door. Hub sits on the parlor floor where your signal actually reaches. Alerts go to up to five phones plus one managing agent email. From $420 for three sensors, $55 each additional.
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03
Pit Rebuild & Primary Replacement
Breakout of the old liner, gravel bed, perforated 18 × 24 in. basin, sealed gasketed lid with grommets, and a new cast-iron or stainless primary matched to the measured recovery rate. Discharge re-piped in schedule 40 with a silent check valve and a freeze-relief port. From $2,250.
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04
Pre-Storm Service Visits
Float and switch test, amperage under load, battery capacity test with a carbon-pile meter, valve and weep-hole clean, sensor battery swap, and a written one-page condition report. Named-storm call-ahead included for plan holders. $190 per visit or $320 for the annual two-visit plan.
How a job runs
From first call to tested system, usually eleven days.
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01
Call or form
You tell us the street, the floor level, and what the cellar did the last time it rained hard. We book a survey window, usually within four working days.
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02
Measured survey
Forty-five minutes on site. Recovery rate, head height, discharge route, electrical capacity, sensor positions. Free inside Hoboken.
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03
Written flat quote
Within two business days, with model numbers, runtime figures, and a board-ready copy if your building needs approval.
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04
Install and hand-over
One day for most backups, two for a pit rebuild. Runners on the stairs, debris out with us, live test with you watching, labels on every valve and breaker.
No subscription. No upsell. No silt on your stoop.
Flat quotes written before the first tool comes out of the van.
Tell us what
your cellar did.
Describe the last flood in two sentences and we will tell you, honestly, whether you need a full system or a $420 sensor set.