We understand the concern, Bobert and gnu. We're used to old, leaky basements with drainage problems and sump pumps. In my earlier antique cape, they had poured concrete into the cellar onto the dirt floor, then the old fellow living there then used his hatchet to chop a drainage channel all around the inside perimeter of the hardened concrete. I used a sump pump there.

With this project, if we needed a sump pump in the case of a plumbing leak, we'd simply pump it right out the daylight basement doors. A smaller leak could be handled by a shop vac.

I'll ask our contractor what the plan is. It will be a little while before the slab is poured, and our foundation and building companies are the best in the area for this kind of ICF super efficient foundation and slab. They know what they're doing, and they'll be glad to explain it to us.