French Drain versus Sump Pump

There is a lot of information available concerning the water-proofing of a basement. All sorts of things are recommended from “waterproofing” paint to digging up the outside perimeter of the home to re-tar the foundation. But more often it comes down to this: FRENCH DRAIN vs. SUMP PUMP

Before we can answer that question, we need to fully understand what a French Drain is and what a sump pump is.

The earliest forms of French drains were simple ditches, pitched from a high area to a lower one and filled with gravel. These were described and popularized by Henry French (1813-1885) a lawyer and Assistant US Treasury Secretary from Concord, Massachusetts in his book Farm Drainage.

What is commonly called a French Drain is what we call a Bonded Deep Channel Pressure Relief System.  This is because it relieves the hydrostatic pressure (water pressure) from the footing area.

The system is designed prevent water from flooding your basement. It is installed inside the basement, below the floor, around the perimeter. This French Drain controls the water, delivers it to the sump pump(s), and discharges it out of the house. This system comes with a lifetime guarantee that your basement floor will not have any water on it.

To install this kind of drain:

1. The inside perimeter of the floor is cut approximately one foot from the wall. A trench is excavated and pitched.
2. Where possible, the lowest course of block is tapped and bled (weep holes) in order to drain the walls.
3. Fully slotted polyethylene drainage pipe is installed and covered with gravel. This pipe meets the requirements for drainage pipe as required by the State Code and the standards for ASTM-F405-74.
4. Polydrain wallboard is installed over the bottom of the wall and over the entire trench in the basement.
5. The basement floor is re-cemented to its original level.
6. To discharge the water, we will install a submersible pump in a covered polyethylene liner.

The Bonded Deep Channel Pressure Relief System (French Drains) is usually installed in 1 day by A-1 Basement Solutions experienced staff. The system is maintenance free once installed. An interior French drain is much less likely to clog than an exterior, partially due to the fact that it is not sitting underneath several feet of soil.

Then we come to the sump pump. A sump is a low space that collects any often-undesirable liquids such as water. A sump pump is a pump used to remove water that has accumulated in water collecting sump pit, commonly found in the basement of homes. In a boat this low place to collect the liquids is called the bilge, and the pump used is a bilge pump. You get the idea; it’s a pump that stays in the sump so it’s called a sump pump.

The sump pump will take whatever water is right there and pump it out. The sump pump is usually placed in the lowest part of the basement so when the water comes in, it will flow across the floor to the sump pit, so the sump pump can then pump it out. The sump pump provides an automatic way to get the water out of the basement as opposed to using a Shop-Vac and having to dump it out manually.

The sump pump should be one part of a complete waterproofing system. A sump pump alone is not effective to lower the water table under the house and prevent water infiltration. Having a sump pump without a delivery system (such as a complete waterproofing system) can be likened to having a heart without arteries and veins; it's just not going to work right.

So, in conclusion, if you have 1 spot that gets water and absolutely nowhere else and you don’t want to vacuum it up then get a sump pump. The rest of us need a French Drain.