Water problem?

[Retired LTC USAR]

Have a split foyer house. The bottom level, on the left end (as you are looking at the house) is about 4 feet below grade. On the back side, I have had some water leak into the room. Re-did the landscape/grade to help divert the water. All was good until the rains of this past week. More water. I believe this all started after the summer droughts of the past couple of years that caused the ground to separate from the house ever so slightly.

My deck is above the area where I believe the water is entering the house, which makes working on it harder.

Any tips/suggestions/ideas on how to stop the water?

Thanks.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Assume that your lower level is not below the water table and your re-grading moves surface water away from the house.

An impermeable barrier (tarp) to stop additional rain seeping in. Assuming it runs away from the house.

Don't overlook gutters and downspouts. Eliminate clogs and clear debris. If they are clean and still over-topping, then they are undersized for the square feet of roof they handle. Employ extra lengths of downspout to extend the discharge away from the house. There are buried flexible extensions that use pop-up emitters that are more attractive.

4 in. Polyethylene Pop-Up Drainage Emitters with Elbow-422G - The Home Depot

Shop NDS 3-in Pop-Up Emitter at Lowes.com

Good luck.

About that drought condition causing soil shrinkage. I've read of people having good results putting a drip sprinkler hose on a timer, and running it around the perimeter of their house.

 

[THEMULE]

Sir,
As much as you don't wanna hear this.......

I've had water issues in my basement. Not a split level, a ranch. Fairly new, Household6 and I built it 10 years ago. A few years ago, I had to dig up around the foundation/basement and "refill" it to the top with washed gravel. Actually left it about 4" below grade and topped it with top soil.
The builder only back filled about 2/3rds of the basement with gravel, then finished with about 4' of dirt. I told them when I had it built, I wanted the gravel to the top. Boy did he get an ear full.
Anyway, that's how I fixed my problem.
As mentioned above, do not disregard gutters and down spouts.
Good luck,
Bob

 

[59dexta]

Have to determine if it is surface water intrusion or ground water. Surface water can be re directed as you have tried. Possibly a sump pump located in the area of intrusion could lower the water table if it is ground water. Good luck happy New Year

 

[Brian41]

You don't mention how old your house is. I have a ranch built in 1970 that I had issues with water leaking into the basement in several areas. I made sure I had enough grade and exertions on down spouts. I still had problems and wound up hiring a contractor to waterproof my basement. It cost $5000 but they removed old drain tile that we found full of tree roots. Put in new tile and replaced the concrete they removed. They even moved my 2000 pound safe and put it back in place. It's been almost three years and dry as a bone since.
Hopefully these other measures will solve your problem before going to the measure I took. I did find a contractor that was highly recommended and had done work at a friend's before.