DIYbanter - View Single Post - What is best way to drain water away from house and solve leaky basement problem.

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wrote:
On the west end of my small house in Cincinnati (the backyard), [I just
recently bought the house, so I don't know its history] there is a
small crest about 12 feet from the house that drains water toward the
basement. (On the other side of the crest, the land slopes away from
the house to a vacant lot.) Also, the backyard slopes from south to
north, so there is a particularly low area at the Northwest corner of
the house. That low corner is about 15 feet away from a spot where the
water drains away from the house. On the Northeast corner of the house
(the frontyard), there is a narrow slight slope from the corner down
the driveway that drains all the way to the street. On the Southeast
corner of the house (frontyard again), there is mostly a narrow slope
generally towards the front that goes to the road, but there is a
slight rise about 8 or 10 feet from the house. (M

There are two gutters that run parallel to each other. The
gutter on the South side of the house runs West to East (back to
front), and has a downspout in about the mid-point of the house that
drains into a pipe that is located in a window well. There is also a
downspout at the SouthEast corner of the house. The mid-point gutter
is almost surely the cause of a leak in the basement because after a
moderate rain a week ago (following a fairly long dry period), water
came into the basement through the window in the window well that
housed the downspout. I don't know where the pipe that services the
downspout ultimately goes, but I would guess that it is supposed to
drain into the front of the yard, and I would further guess that it was
designed to go into a storm sewer drain that is probably located
somewhere in the front yard.

The parallel North side gutter runs from East to West (front
to back), and it has only 1 downspout that is at the corner (Northwest
corner), and has pipe that was designed to go to the part of the
backyard crest that slopes away from the house. However, the pipe
doesn't currently properly drain because it was not properly sloped
downward and because it does not reach the downward slope. Thus,
during the last moderate rain, I got a small amount of leakage in the
Northeast corner of the basement.

I should also add that the basement has a sump pump, which
does not appear to be working well because the last moderate rainfall
caused some leakage in the basement although the ground was still firm
after the rain.

My basic question is should I attempt to divert the water
away by doing simple grading and gutter repair or should I attempt to
repair the weeping tiles that work with the sump pump or possibly
should I attempt to install a french drain. Any tips on the best way
to solve this problem would be appreciated -- right now, I am totally
conflicted as to what is the best way to proceed.

Getting the grading right is always the first priority. Assuming you
can do that, it's where I would start. Make sure grading slopes away
from the house and all water from the downspouts is discharged at least
6 ft away, 10 is better.