Sump Pump vs. French Drain

Homeowners often ask whether they need a sump pump or a french drain. The answer is that neither one works alone for a basement with real water entry. The french drain is the collection system. The sump pump is the removal system. Water enters the drain tile, flows to the basin, and the pump moves it out of the house. Remove either half and the other half has nothing to do.

Interior vs. exterior french drains

• Interior french drain (drain tile). A channel inside the basement floor around the perimeter, in gravel, pitched to the sump basin. This is the standard Connecticut system: it installs year-round, leaves the yard alone, and costs roughly $60–$120 per linear foot.
• Exterior french drain (weeping tile). Pipe at the footing outside the foundation, installed during excavation as part of an exterior waterproofing system. It stops water before it reaches the wall, but it requires digging the full perimeter — roughly $150–$350 per linear foot with excavation.

What the pump has to do

The pump's job is measured in gallons per hour against vertical lift — how high it must push water to reach the discharge point. A pump sized for an average day floods on the worst day, which is the only day that matters. That is also why the backup matters as much as the primary: the primary pump handles normal water, the battery backup handles the power outage, and the alarm tells you when either one is falling behind.

Discharge: the part everyone forgets

A system is only as good as its discharge. Water must go to daylight away from the foundation, a dry well, or a storm system where the town allows it — never into a sanitary sewer in most Connecticut towns, and never dumped two feet from the foundation where it runs straight back in. Discharge lines need freeze protection at the exit, because a frozen line in January backs up the entire system on the coldest nights of the year.

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