Basement Drains Complete

Our basement job was completed within one day.  This was nice since most businesses we have contracted for jobs have been late to start and late to finish.  We are extremely pleased with the company and their workmanship so let me know if you would like their name.  So far only two businesses/contractors that have worked on our home have really pleased us: this basement company and the guys who installed our carpet.  Working with good people makes a BIG difference.
If you don't remember, we needed work done due to our basement flooding.  Post about the work is here- There's a Jackhammer in My Basement

Here was the old sump pump area (and lowest point in our basement) during the work-

Here is the completed job-

So the basic technology of the Grate Drain is the below rectangle chambers act as a submerged gutter.  These gutters or chambers are submerged around the entire perimeter of the basement, surrounded by gravel and covered by concrete.  The outside water flows down the exterior basement wall and through holes made in the wall parallel to these chambers.  The ground water flows into these chambers and is then pumped out instead of seeping through the floor and the wall/floor joint.

There are access ports all around the perimeter in case the system ever needs to be flushed.  We can also connect a hose from our dehumidifier to a port, so we don't have to continually dump the bucket (we were having to dump it every few days through out the summer).

Others pictures of the finished product.  Jonathan's 'shop' area-

Drain added at base of bulk head stairs.  Water sometimes gets through the bulk head and runs under the door into the basement.

We have heat and a separate thermostat in our basement which is nice.

This area we are considering to finish as a playroom.  This is very exciting and makes this expensive project even more worth it (since before it was NOT a possibility with all the flooding we kept having).

It also makes storing things down in the basement easier.  Before, items stored in the basement smelled musty and always had to be off the ground.

Like I said, it was expensive work but we do not have to worry with flooding anymore.  And since we have a generator even power outages are not too much of a threat.  Good peace of mind especially since it's hurricane season. :)