The Storm That Floods The Pit Is The Storm That Cuts The Power
A mains-only sump pump stops at exactly the wrong moment — the night the storm takes the power down. We install both kinds of backup: battery systems that take over for 5–8 hours, and water-powered systems that run on city water pressure with no time limit at all. Toronto’s subsidy covers part of the job, and we handle the paperwork.
Backup Options
Both do the same job — keep the pit down when your main pump can’t — but they do it in opposite ways, and the right one depends on your house, not on what a store had in stock.
A 12-volt deep-cycle battery takes over on its own the moment power fails and gives you roughly 5–8 hours of pumping. It works in any house regardless of water source. The trade-off is the battery itself: it degrades, it needs replacing every 2–3 years, and its pumping rate fades as the charge drops during a long outage. Toronto pays up to $300 toward one.
Systems like the Water Commander run on municipal water pressure instead of electricity. As long as the city has water, it pumps — through a two-hour outage or a two-day one. Almost no moving parts, no battery to corrode or swap, a 20+-year working life, and maintenance is a test twice a year. It holds a steady, high pumping rate because water pressure doesn’t fade the way a battery does.
Water-powered needs municipal water pressure — on a private well it stops with the power, so there a battery (or a generator) is the answer. On city water with a finished basement, a rental, or an owner who travels, the unlimited runtime usually wins. Some houses get both: water-powered as the deep reserve, battery for the fastest possible switchover.
Bigger is not safer. An oversized pump in a small pit short-cycles — on, off, on, off — and wears its motor out early. An undersized one runs flat out through a storm and burns up. We size the pump and the backup to the pit, the inflow and the discharge run, which is one of the things the free assessment is actually for.
Sump Pumps & Power Cuts
A backwater valve holds back the city sewer. A sump pump handles the water coming up through the ground. And the storm that fills your pit is usually the same storm that takes the power out — which is why we quote the pump, the backup and the alarm as one job, not three.
Pumps rarely fail politely. They start cycling every few minutes instead of running once, or they run and run without the water level dropping, or they get loud enough that you notice them from upstairs. Any of those means the impeller, the float or the check valve is going. We replace the pump, the check valve and the float together — changing one and leaving the other two is how people end up doing this twice.
The night your basement is most likely to flood is the night the lights go out. A mains pump with no backup is a pump that stops exactly when it is needed. A battery backup takes over on its own the moment power fails, keeps the pit down while the storm passes, and tells you it has switched over instead of leaving you to find out in the morning. Toronto pays up to $300 toward one, and up to $2,250 toward the pump itself.
A monitored system watches the water level and the pump itself, and sends an alert to your phone when the level climbs, when the pump runs too long, or when it stops answering. That matters most for the people who are not standing in the basement: landlords, owners of second properties, and anyone who travels. A flooded basement found on day one is a mop; found on day nine it is drywall, flooring and an insurance claim.
Half the pump jobs we are called back to were never a pump problem. The discharge line ended a foot from the wall, so the same water came straight back into the pit; or it was tied into the sanitary sewer, which is not permitted and gets flagged the moment anyone inspects. We run the discharge properly away from the foundation, keep it off the sanitary side, and check what happens to it in a freeze — a discharge line that ices shut in January is a pump running against a closed door.
Pumps, backups and monitoring are quoted as one fixed price after a free assessment, not billed hourly — the number depends on the pit, the discharge run and what is already down there. Booked together with a backwater valve, the assessment and the permit paperwork cover both, and the city rebate can apply to both. Request a free assessment.
City of Toronto Rebate
The City of Toronto's Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy Program reimburses homeowners for eligible flood-prevention work — including the exact backwater valve and sump pump installations we do every week. We handle the licensed installation, take out the building permit and meet the inspector ourselves — the permit is a condition of the subsidy, and it is the part most homeowners get stuck on. The rest of the paperwork is straightforward and we're happy to walk you through it.
Rates set by the City of Toronto and subject to annual Council approval — verify current details at toronto.ca before applying. Homeowners outside Toronto should check their local municipality for similar programs.
The Other Side Of The Quote
Every quote gets compared against zero — against leaving it and hoping. That comparison is only fair if the second number is honest, so here it is.
Sewage that comes up a floor drain does not just get mopped. Carpet and underlay go out. Laminate swells and goes out. Drywall gets cut back above the water line because the paper wicks. Baseboards, trim, and anything porous that was sitting on the floor go with them. Then the space has to dry properly before anything is rebuilt, or it comes back as a smell in July.
Worth reading before you need it: sewer backup is often not part of a standard policy at all — it is an add-on many people find out about after the fact. Where it is covered, insurers increasingly look at whether the recommended protection was installed. Two claims from the same drain is also the point where renewal terms start to change. We are not insurance advisers, and the only sensible move is to pull out your own policy and look at the backup wording.
Toronto pays up to $6,650 per property, Vaughan 50% of the invoice up to $750, Richmond Hill up to $1,500. These are municipal programmes with annual budgets and first-come, first-served funding, and their terms get revised. Toronto also requires the application within two years of the work, Richmond Hill within six months. Money that is on the table this year is not guaranteed to be there when your basement finally forces the decision.
A backwater valve, a working sump pump and the paperwork to prove both are things a buyer’s agent asks about on any street with a flooding history — and a documented flood without them is the kind of thing that turns up in a disclosure or a home inspection. The work is not only protection while you live there. It is one fewer thing to argue about at the table.
This is not a reason to buy something you do not need. Half the calls we go to turn out to be surface water and a downspout, and we say so. It is a reason to have someone look properly before the next big rain, and that assessment is free. Book one.
Transparent Pricing
No hidden fees — you'll always know the cost before we start.
Covers travel to your door and the first hour of labour.
Billed per additional hour beyond the first, in clear increments. The rate is per technician — if a job needs two of us, we tell you before we start.
Clearing the main sewer line of a single-family home with an accessible cleanout.
Half price when added to the same visit — there is no second trip to pay for. You keep the recorded video and a written condition report.
Drain prices are for a single-family home with an accessible cleanout, with the camera run from the house to the property line. Priced separately: access through a pulled toilet or roof vent when there is no cleanout, sonde locating of the line, and any excavation.
Larger jobs — renovations, installs, backwater valves, sump pumps — are quoted as a fixed price upfront after a quick assessment, not billed hourly. Request a free estimate. Inspections are different: camera work, leak detection and pre-purchase reports are billed at the rates above, because what you get is the findings and the footage, not a quote. If you go ahead with the repair, the inspection fee comes off your invoice.
Questions
The unit itself — a Water Commander–class system — is around $750, and installation typically runs $1,200–$2,000 depending on your existing plumbing: the price climbs when a new water supply line or a dedicated discharge line has to be run. You get one fixed written price after a free assessment. Toronto’s subsidy can cover part of the total.
On city water, water-powered usually wins for the thing that matters most: runtime. A battery gives roughly 5–8 hours and fades as it drains; a water-powered unit runs on municipal pressure for as long as the outage lasts, holds a steady pumping rate, has no battery to replace every 2–3 years, and lasts 20+ years with a twice-a-year test. A battery still makes sense on a private well, or as a second layer alongside the water-powered unit.
It needs two things: municipal water pressure and somewhere proper for the discharge to go. It is not the answer on a private well — the well pump dies with the power — unless the house has a generator. We confirm the pressure, the supply routing and the discharge run at the free assessment, before any price is on paper.
The install is a fixed price quoted after a free assessment, because it depends on where the line runs and how the floor has to be opened. On the rebate side, Toronto pays up to $1,600 per valve and up to $6,650 per property once a sump pump, battery backup and plumbing assessment are counted in. Vaughan covers half the invoiced cost up to $750; Richmond Hill up to $1,500.
Yes — a building permit and a plumbing inspection are both required, and the City will not pay the subsidy without them. We take out the permit and meet the inspector ourselves. It is the step homeowners most often get stuck on, and work done without it is what disqualifies a claim.
It depends on the water. Sewage coming up through the floor drain is a sanitary backup and needs a backwater valve. Clean water seeping in around the floor is groundwater and needs a sump pump. Older streets on combined sewers often need both, and the subsidy covers both, so it is worth establishing which case you are in before choosing.
Yes — we take urgent calls for burst pipes, sewer backups and active leaks. Most calls in the GTA are answered same-day; call (437) 559-9778 directly for the fastest response.
We work across the Greater Toronto Area, including Toronto, North York, Scarborough, Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Etobicoke, Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville, King City and Aurora. See our full service area for details.
Yes — all of our plumbers are fully licensed and insured, and we carry WSIB coverage with a Certificate of Insurance available on request for property managers and commercial clients.
Our standard service call is $160 + tax, which covers travel and the first hour of labour. Additional hours are billed at $110 + tax. Larger jobs — renovations, installs, backwater valves, sump pumps — are quoted as a fixed price upfront, and that estimate is free. Inspections — camera work, leak detection, pre-purchase reports — are billed at the rates above, because the result is the findings and the footage rather than a quote. If you go ahead with the repair, the inspection fee comes off your invoice. See our full pricing.
Yes — we currently maintain 10+ residential buildings across the GTA, handling everything from emergency callouts to scheduled maintenance, turnovers and drain work. Buildings on a service agreement are billed $110/hr from arrival with no service-call fee and get 24/7 callout. See our property management and commercial plumbing services.
Often, yes. The City of Toronto offers up to $6,650 per property through its Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy Program, and several other GTA municipalities run their own programs. See our rebate details for your area.
Three signs, and any one of them is enough. It cycles every few minutes instead of running once and shutting off — that is usually the float or the check valve. It runs continuously without the water level dropping — that is the impeller. Or it has simply got loud. Age matters too: most pumps are on borrowed time after seven or eight years, and the cheapest time to replace one is before a storm, not during it.
It depends on one thing: whether losing the basement would cost you real money. The storms that fill a sump pit are the same storms that take the power down, so a mains-only pump stops at exactly the wrong moment. If the basement is finished, rented, or holds anything you would not want to throw out, a backup is the cheapest part of the job. Toronto pays up to $300 toward one. If the basement is bare block and a wet floor is an inconvenience rather than a loss, we will tell you that too.
It watches the water level and the pump, and messages your phone when the level rises, when the pump runs longer than it should, or when it stops responding. It does not pump water — it buys you time. That is worth most to landlords, owners of second properties and anyone who travels, because the difference between finding a flood on day one and day nine is the difference between a mop and new flooring.
Yes. Toronto's programme pays up to $6,650 per property in total: up to $1,600 for each backwater valve (two allowed), up to $2,250 for a sump pump, $300 for a battery backup, $500 for a plumbing assessment and $400 for foundation drain capping. Both a permit and an inspection are conditions of it. We take out the permit, meet the inspector and hand you the invoice itemised the way the application asks for.
What We Do
Century homes in the east and west end, post-war semis, and downtown condos — three different kinds of plumbing behind three different front doors. Here is what we do across all of them.
Burst pipes, active leaks, no water, failed shut-off valves. Same-day response for homeowners — and round-the-clock callout, any hour, for buildings on a service agreement with us.
$160 service call — travel and the first hour. $110/hr after. Emergency Plumbing — What To Do First →Clogged drains and toilets, tree root removal, hydro-jetting, camera locating, and sewer line repair or replacement including excavation.
Main sewer line clearing $560. Camera inspection or hydro-jetting added to the same visit — $220 each instead of $440, half price. Excavation and line replacement are priced separately: a fixed quote after an on-site assessment, and that assessment is free. Drain Cleaning — What It Costs →Flood protection for your basement: backwater valve installation and replacement, sump pump install, testing and service. Eligible for the City of Toronto rebate of up to $6,650.
Fixed price, quoted upfront. Estimate is free. Request This Service →Tank and tankless water heater replacement and repair, plus water service line repair and replacement from the street to the house.
Fixed price, quoted upfront. Estimate is free. Water Heaters — Owned, Not Rented →Whole-home and point-of-use filtration, softeners and treatment systems — sized and specified for your household, not sold off a shelf.
Fixed price, quoted upfront. Estimate is free. Request This Service →Bathroom and kitchen plumbing for renovations and new builds — from rough-in and valve work through to the final fixtures.
Fixed price, quoted upfront. Estimate is free. Renovation Plumbing — How It Is Priced →Camera inspection of drains and sewer lines, hidden leak detection, and pre-purchase reports. You keep the recorded video and a written condition report — roots, cracks, bellies and what to do next.
Branch line $220 · full sewer main $440 · with sonde locate $560 · pre-purchase report $560. Credited toward the repair if we do the work, and a quick camera look is free when we are already on site. Camera Inspection — What’s Included →Client Reviews
"I recently had my shower renovated, and I couldn't be happier with the results! The team was professional, punctual and attentive to my needs throughout the process. They transformed my outdated shower into a modern oasis."
"I recently had a plumbing issue with my clogged toilet and called in the professionals. They arrived promptly, assessed the situation quickly, and had the problem resolved in no time. Impressed with their expertise and friendly service."
"After struggling with a clogged kitchen drain for days, I finally called in the professionals. The plumber arrived promptly and quickly diagnosed the issue. Efficient, friendly, and unclogged my drain in no time."
Recent Work
Real jobs, completed by our team, across the Greater Toronto Area.
For Property Managers & Building Owners
We currently maintain 10+ residential buildings across the Greater Toronto Area — emergency callouts, scheduled maintenance, unit turnovers and drain work. Buildings on a service agreement are billed $110/hr from arrival, with no service-call fee, and get round-the-clock response any hour of the night.
Rates for buildings · What a service agreement covers · Request a building quote
See Us In Action
A full kitchen sink replacement from start to finish — old unit out, new one in, drain and supply lines redone, tested and cleaned up. Filmed on a real job in the GTA.
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About Us
Ankor Ltd. has been working across Toronto since 2013. The company started when our founder left the firm he worked for and the residential buildings he had been maintaining asked him to keep looking after them — which is why a family-sized crew ended up servicing apartment buildings alongside houses. In Toronto that mix is exactly right: the same week can take us from a century home on the Danforth to a mechanical room downtown.
It is still a family business. Calls are answered by our office rather than a call centre, the plumber who quotes the job is the one who does it, and the price is agreed before anything is opened up. Every plumber is licensed and insured, we carry WSIB coverage, and we take out the permits and meet the inspectors on the work that needs them.
Where We Work
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Riverdale · Leslieville · The Beaches · Danforth · Junction · Roncesvalles · Parkdale · High Park · Annex · Little Italy · Corso Italia · Davenport · St. Clair West · Yonge & Eglinton · Downtown & the waterfront
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