Water Coming Through the Foundation From Outside

Exterior Waterproofing

Basement water almost always starts outside the house. In southern Virginia and northern North Carolina the reason is usually the soil. Red clay does not absorb water. It holds it against the outside face of the foundation wall for days after a rain, and block walls are porous enough that the water works through. What you see inside, a damp wall, a wet floor joint, efflorescence or staining, is the last step of a path that began in the yard.

So the inspection starts outside. We look at how the ground slopes near the house and whether it sends water toward the wall or away from it. We look at the gutters, whether they are clear and whether they overflow in a hard rain, and where each downspout puts its water. A downspout emptying beside the foundation saturates the exact soil you least want wet. We look at what is sitting against the wall: raised beds, mulch piled above the top of the block, a patio or walk that slopes back toward the house, and low spots where water stands. Then we go inside and match that to the water lines, staining and damp areas on the wall.

Sometimes the answer is outside the house, and it is not our work. If a clogged gutter or a downspout dumping at the corner is the reason the wall is wet, we will tell you that plainly. Fixing it may be all you need, and quoting a drainage system for a gutter problem would be the wrong recommendation.

More often in red clay the soil stays saturated regardless, and water comes through the block wall from outside every time the ground is wet. We handle that from inside, where the water arrives. The basement floor is cut around the perimeter, about 16 inches from the wall, and the trench is dug down to the footer. French drain material goes in and is routed to a sump pump with battery backup, which lifts the collected water out and away from the house. Where water is coming through the wall face, a 20 mil poly liner goes on the wall from the top of the block down to the drain, so moisture moving through the block is directed into the drain instead of into the basement. The concrete is then poured back.

The result is a system that does not depend on the soil outside ever drying out. Water still reaches the outside of the wall. It just no longer reaches your basement.

If you are not sure whether your problem is a gutter, the slope of the yard or the wall itself, the inspection sorts it out, and it is free.