We thought installing gutters would help this but it hasn’t!! We just bought the house and it scares me what this has been doing to the foundation since it was abandoned for a few years as a foreclosure. Any alternatives? Filling the area with concrete?
You need to change the slope of the landscaping in this area. It needs to be graded so the water drains away from your house. My husband did this in one of our houses by hand, with a shovel. It was a lot of work, but solved the problem.
I had the same problem when I moved into my old house. I 1)add extensions to the downspouts to move the water further out to the driveway, 2) my handyman tilted the gutter itself downward a few degrees to the downspout so the water ( that can be very heavy here in the PNW) drained faster to the downspout and prevented it overflowing over the edge, and 3) I had the whole upper edge of the gutter caulked along the soffit to again prevent it backflowing down the wall. If the gutter downspout flows over the sideway along side the building, you may have to dig under the sidewalk to put your gutter extensison underground....
Adding drains to the area should solve your problem. They will need to run along the the entire foundation and away from the house quite a distance, depending on how much water you have.
we see a trench coming down from the woods in the back of the house and it flows into our yard and misses the trench that use to be there that becomes a sort of creek that flows around and away from the house downhill. I think we will dig out the trench a bit better. Removing all debris so it flows into the creek As it should and not our yard then remove the soil in that corner have the concrete foundation checked then professionally filled with concrete and see how that goes. The drain tile thing sounds expensive so we will try this first. Thanks for the help!!!!
Because it is uneven and all of the water flows into that corner, I would suggest pouring concrete there and making it level so water won't flow there. I agree that it can cause hidden water damage that you don't want!
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Your comment...
You need to change the slope of the landscaping in this area. It needs to be graded so the water drains away from your house. My husband did this in one of our houses by hand, with a shovel. It was a lot of work, but solved the problem.
Good suggestion from Ann, you might also look at the downspouts and make sure they are taking the water away from the foundation.
We built up the corner of our home with landscaping as Anne suggested. We actually built it up about 8 inches and it worked like a charm.
I forgot to mention that this is a 4’x4’ planter area in the corner. The rest is a concrete patio.
I had the same problem when I moved into my old house. I 1)add extensions to the downspouts to move the water further out to the driveway, 2) my handyman tilted the gutter itself downward a few degrees to the downspout so the water ( that can be very heavy here in the PNW) drained faster to the downspout and prevented it overflowing over the edge, and 3) I had the whole upper edge of the gutter caulked along the soffit to again prevent it backflowing down the wall. If the gutter downspout flows over the sideway along side the building, you may have to dig under the sidewalk to put your gutter extensison underground....
Tunnel under sideway.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDUbMXlYP30
underground extension.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT6ZUWXsYgQ mine just go out into the yard about 5' using perforated pipe.
Adding drains to the area should solve your problem. They will need to run along the the entire foundation and away from the house quite a distance, depending on how much water you have.
French Drain
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_drain
I'd try adding small pebbles to see if that helps.
Hi Sandy,
I just saw now that your question has been posted twice.
Did you get a home inspection before you purchased the property?
What did the inspector's report say regarding the poor drainage and moss build up in the corner?
He said we needed gutters and we already installed them. It was dry when he came to inspect too.
Not sure where you are and the building codes in your area, but your house is lacking perimeter drain tile.
I would get a local building contractor in to give you a estimate. Quite a big job but should be done...
In many locations, codes generally apply only to new construction builds.
It could be that when this house was first built, either ;
1/ a code specifying that particular drain tiles were installed was not in existence or
2/ there was no inspection to verify that they were/not installed according to code or
3/there was no enforcement imposed on the builder for not installing properly according to any existing code
Irregardless of what the scenario was, the new home owner has little recourse to correct the situation other than to install a new system.
If the hired company considers themselves as professional , they should want to complete the job to meet with new-build codes presently in effect.
we see a trench coming down from the woods in the back of the house and it flows into our yard and misses the trench that use to be there that becomes a sort of creek that flows around and away from the house downhill. I think we will dig out the trench a bit better. Removing all debris so it flows into the creek As it should and not our yard then remove the soil in that corner have the concrete foundation checked then professionally filled with concrete and see how that goes. The drain tile thing sounds expensive so we will try this first. Thanks for the help!!!!
Because it is uneven and all of the water flows into that corner, I would suggest pouring concrete there and making it level so water won't flow there. I agree that it can cause hidden water damage that you don't want!