Getting rid of water on outside of house

[Robert P.]

Question - I have about 3 feet on the side of my house where it's just dirt and junk. I'm currently getting some water intrusion along that same wall in the basement. I've checked gutters and there does not seem to be any leaks or puddling in this area (although I've noticed very soggy mud when it rains a lot)

For the time being I am going to dig it down a little, put a plastic liner type down, then add soil and grade it away from the house. Hoping that will work.

Then I was thinking, I wonder if it would make sense to asphalt this area with a grade again away from the house. Shouldn't be that expensive and would work. Am I missing something? What would you do in this area to displace water from draining down and into my fieldstone foundation?

[Marcia Maynard]

@Robert P.  Well.... I come from the Great North-wet!  Proper drainage is key here and we've had a lot of success with routing drainage underground and into a drain pipe and/or french drain that ends with either an emitter or drywell.

It's important to know the amount of water that you will be handling, the type of soil on your property, the slope of the land, and whether you have any storms drains near your property.

From your photo, it appears your current system is to route the water from the roof to the gutters to downspouts and then to more downspouts sloped to the front of the lot.  Problems: #1 Only the roof run off water makes it into your system. #2 Clearing these lines of debris would be a bear. #3 It's unsightly.

There's a better way. You will need to dig trenches along the side of the house and use actual drainage pipe that would run underground. You will need catch basins placed in a manner to catch overflow and clean-outs to make maintenance easier. You will need to determine where you want the water to go. It's best if you can route it to a natural drainage field or storm drain.

Read about drainage systems on-line and do it yourself, or hire a pro.

After you dismantle the current downspout mess and put in a proper drainage system, then you can dress the top of the soil to make it look good. Since it's an area that doesn't get sunlight, I would recommend grading it away from the house and covering it with drainage rocks or river rocks.

Downspout into underground drain pipe.

Underground drain pipe sloped away from house to emitter, prior to covering it up.