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Step 1
Grade the basement so that the water will run to a certain point in the basement to help facilitate draining in your basement.
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Step 2
Place a water conduit around the inside of the outer wall of the basement. Make sure you have the correct elevation for the conduit so that the water will drain downhill to the sump pump. You can create this elevation by adding gravel and stone.
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Step 3
Add inspections ports to the system to make sure that it's functioning properly and not clogging. You can also use the port for a dehumidifier. The condensate line from the dehumidifier could drain into the port and the water would be carried to the sump pump when you add a drainage system to the basement.
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Step 4
Install a sump pump in the basement, and have the water from the conduit drain into it. Installing a triple-safe sump is a good idea--should one pump fail, you will have other pumps still functioning. Also, should there be more water than usual in the basement, more than one pump will kick in to help drain the basement. The third pump is a battery-operated pump that will work despite a power failure. An alarm sounds when the sump pump operates under battery power.
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Step 5
Hardwire the sump pump to the electrical panel in the home, and have more than one discharge pipe to allow for large quantities of water to be pumped from the basement. Add a sealed lid to the sump pump so that water will not evaporate and go back into the basement.
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Step 6
Include an air tight floor drain in the sump pump. This would be helpful should a pipe ever burst in your basement. Instead of flooding the basement, the water will run to the sump pump, which is the low point in the basement.
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Step 7
Put on ice guard fittings to the pipes that lead from the sump pump to the outside. This helps prevent the water from the sump pump that freezes entering the house. If the water freezes in the line then melts, it will eject through the ports on the outside of the house rather then enter back through the pipes and back into the cellar.
