Unwanted Water around the house advice

[TURBO]

I've had it!!!

 

With that ridiculous amount of rain we had last night, the West side of my landscaping up against the house was flooded.......again.

 

What happens is the window well gets full, and then the water wants to find it's way into the basement through and around the window. I caught it last night before it came in by taking a bucket, in the driving, pouring rain, and scooping it out. Just in the nick of time I might add, as the water was up to the base of the window. As I was scooping, the water kept coming in, so it wasn't like it was just full once, and I scooped it out. I had to be there, continuously scooping or it would have filled again, multiple times. It was a very fun time.

 

Who would I call to fix the problem? The dirt has eroded over time, so when we get heavy rain, it funnels into the window well. There is also a pool that forms inside the landscape curbing, which I also had to relieve with a bucket. I have tried to patch it up, but to no avail. Would I call a landscaper, excavator, or someone else?

 

My guess is that it needs to be graded differently so the water runs away from the house, rather than pool up next to it, causing the problem. There was a ton of water in last night's rain storm.

 

Any advice?

 

Thanks in advance!

[whizkid]

Yes, grading away from the house is the most important thing. You can do it yourself, order a load of dirt and then a shovel and wheelbarrow are your friend. Do you have window well covers? Is this a gable roof with no overhang and gutter on that side?

[TURBO]

No over hang or gutter on that side, and I already have window well covers, but the water gets in through the eroded sides...

 

If I do this myself, would I have to dig out around the wells to make sure the dirt I put in and grade will be packed firmly in place?

 

It seems if I just grade it away from the house, it will just be a band-aid if I don't dig down and start over around the window well.

[TURBO]

Another silly question, what kind of dirt and who do you order dirt from? Landscaping companies?

 

Probably wouldn't want topsoil?

[whizkid]

Do you think there's an empty void under the surface dirt? If so you'd want to fill that in but I'm skeptical that would be the case. I think the water getting down there would compact the dirt. But you could dig down a few feet and see what it looks like around the well.

 

A landscaper can dump a pile of dirt in your driveway. You need to measure the length, width and height of dirt you think you need and they can help you calculate the cubic yards. You need to tamp the dirt down a little at a time after you put it down. After a few rains you may need to add more. I think you want the dirt to slope at least 3/4" per foot away from the house so the water will run down the surface. More slope is better. A landscaper could do the work for you but it would cost, you'd have to get some estimates.

 

If you think the basement walls are damaged from this then you'd have to look into the need for excavating/waterproofing. You should be able to call some places and get some advice/free estimates.

 

What quality of dirt/soil you need/want depends on what's planted there or what you want to plant there. If you need to bury any plantings too much deeper than they are, they might not survive either.

 

What is the distance now between the dirt and the siding. You don't want the dirt to be closer than about 8" to the siding after you re-grade.

 

There are other things that can be done like French Drains but without seeing the actual situation and I'm not an expert anyway, it's hard to say much more.

 

There is a lot of info and instructions that can be found on the internet via Google.

[BrewersSuperCollector]

I had a blockage in the gutter at my downspout last week when we had 5 inches of rain. All the water from that side of the house came crashing down in my flower bed. So I had water in the basement, and was I pissed. Never had water issues before.

 

You need to get gutters on there.

[Invader3K]

Yeah, gutters and downspouts pointed away from the house could likely solve this issue.

[TURBO]

Thanks for the in depth advice whizkid...I appreciate your time.

 

There is no place to put gutters. It is the West side of the house, there is a peak on that side, no gutters, and no place to put them.

 

Thanks for all the advice, I decided to call a landscaping company and have it looked at. I'm afraid that if I do it myself, I will have missed something, do something wrong, and be right back where I started in the near future. I always feel better having experts deal with this type of stuff rather than wing it myself.

 

Thanks again!