Standing water in yard and window well

[Robert S.]

My basement has flooded, possibly due to standing water in one of the window wells. There is water pooling up under the mulch next to the window well on the side of the house, and I can see water seeping into the window well. The house is a year old, and I am out of warranty. Is it normal to see standing water under the side of the yard under the mulch? Also, I cannot step into the backyard as it is very muddy. The builder has corrected grading issues twice before where there was standing water in my backyard, but it looks like the issue was never resolved. How did the water get into my basement? Could there be a crack somewhere? I am really hoping someone could help me with this, as I never slept after this happened and am worried. We put a lot of effort into finishing the basement. The carpets are damaged as well. I have a restoration company coming tomorrow, but for now, I have put a sump pump in to drain the water out. I have attached a video link for reference. Thank you, guys. Standing water video

[John Coulter]

That hairline crack is not (yet) a structural problem and is not uncommon to see within the first couple years. And your builder may be right, that most of the water entered through the window... you should be able to tell where the water line is. Once again, if you had proper surface drainage, you wouldn't have water coming in the crack or pooling in the window well. You can seal it up, but it's still a very small bandaid. From what I remember, Utah residential code does not require foundation drainage and therefore, no window well drains (where would it go?). It does however require specific grading (2% over 10 ft extending away from the house). Which if not possible (your side yard), should require physical drainage (french drain, surface drain, etc). Call your city's building department and they can verify this- you may need to talk to a building inspector. 

As for the studs/ framing- it def looks scabby but they aren't structural and I'm guessing the demo team cut 1 or 2 out to see that crack. Easy enough to put it back together.