Proper installation and daylighting techniques

Sump pumps are crucial for keeping moisture under control in all basements and crawlspaces. In new construction, the proper exterior sump drain uses 4-inch perforated pipe, wrapped by a filtering fabric sock. The drain assembly is then surrounded by small rock, and covered with fabric, which is nailed to the concrete foundation, where it may carry water away from the foundation. 

The drain pipe should be sloped around the foundation and pass under the footer directly into the sump pump pit. The sump pump then pumps the water out of the pit to the exterior of the home, and as far away as possible from the foundation. This is called daylighting. The pipe goes down a slope so you see the end of the pipe barely out of the ground and the water flows freely away. 

If the surrounding ground doesn’t slope away or slope away enough, digging a dry sump pit (a 3 x 3 x 3-foot pit that is filled with rock for the first 2 feet, then landscape fabric, then top soil), will provide a suitable alternative.