After thirty years of installing sump pumps I would offer this free advice for people considering having a sump pump installed. While most of the 30,000 sump pumps my company has installed during the last 25 years are located in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Connecticut the following principles should apply to whatever location you are in.
1) Do not install a sump liner that collects water from under the footer of the house as this water in the ground is important to the stability of the foundation. Draining water from under this footing will sometimes cause a foundation failure because dirt and debris will erode from under the footer. Sometimes just removing the ground water from UNDER the footing will cause the soils to shrink and thereby cause a foundation failure.
2) Make sure your sump pump has a closed cover that will not allow radon or ground humidity into the basement environment. This is important because 40% of the air you breathe on the first floor of your home comes from the basement.
3) A good sump liner should have some type of pump stand to keep the pump running clean and debris will not cause it to fail.
4) Remember a sump pump liner should only have one pump in it to make sure that the switches and cords do not get tangled together and create a situation where the sump pump or battery back up sump pump will not turn on.
For 25 years I searched for the best sump pump liner - In the 70's and 80's a polyethylene basin and cover was the thing to use. In the 90's structural foam basin was popular especially with a two piece air tight cover. Recently (2006) I invented a premier sump pump housing called the GrateSump. You can check it out at http://www.grateproducts.com/
Finally a sump pump liner with everything a modern basement needs in order to provide a healthy dry basement space. It has a closed cover that easily snaps on and off without any metal screws to rust and corrode. It also has a built in pump stand that allows the dirt and debris to drop in a trough below the pump so it will not interfere with the pump's impeller. The fact that it doesn't promote undermining or eroding of the soil to occur makes it the best solution to installing a sump pump.
