I live in a tri-level, the bottom level being a guest bedroom, family room, powder room and laundry room. A month ago, we had very heavy rain (nearly 5" in 24 hours, very unusual for where I live) and clogged downspouts with overflowing gutters. Probably for the first time in the 40 year history of this house and most definitely in the 14 years we have lived here, water came into the lower level. We had to rip out the carpet and padding, baseboards and remove some drywall. In the interest of full disclosure, I learned after the flood we also have some negative drainage issues on the side of the house where the gutters were clogged. We discovered after the carpet was removed that we have some long but not necessarily wide cracks in the concrete slab in multiple places. That's the background. Now for the conundrum.

I have had three companies with good ratings on BBB, Google, and Angie's List come out to give opinions and estimates. All of them said we need drain tile and a sump pump with estimates running from $4k to nearly $10k. Two want to put the drainage tile around the entire slab at the footer level and one wants to put in on 3 walls. Am I wrong to think putting in a sump pump after one incidence of flooding in 40 years, when we know there are issues outside the house, is a bit overkill? I'm leaning toward fixing the negative drainage, making sure the gutters stay clean, and extending downspout outlets further into the yard. Are there other options? Should I seal the cracks in the floor and if so, does a professional have to do it?