My neighbor called out my downspout setup and I had to admit she was right

I've been living in my Cleveland bungalow for about 4 years now and always thought my gutters were fine. Then last month after a heavy rain, my neighbor Linda came over and pointed out my downspout was dumping water right against the foundation wall. She said it was going to cause basement issues eventually. I looked closer and sure enough there was a little puddle forming right where the concrete meets the brick. So I spent $30 on a flexible extension tube and routed the water about 6 feet away from the house. After the next storm I checked and the ground was totally dry near the foundation. Makes me wonder what else I'm missing around here that someone else can see plain as day. Has anyone else had a neighbor spot a problem you were blind to?

3 comments

3 Comments

emma_dixon7019d ago

Have you ever noticed how water just finds the path of least resistance, even in our own yards? I read something not too long ago that said most basement leaks aren't from a cracked wall, they're from poor drainage around the foundation like you described. After a few bad storms I had a similar thing with a garden bed that was sloping toward the house. My neighbor pointed out the soil was mounded up higher than the concrete foundation. I ended up regrading the whole bed with a shovel over a weekend. Sometimes these little fixes are the ones that save you the most money down the road.

riley4319d ago

Oh hold on, I gotta push back a little on that. It's actually not true that most basement leaks come from poor drainage-like, a ton of them are from cracks in the foundation wall or floor slab, especially in older houses where the concrete settled. Grading helps a ton, but if the water table gets high enough or the soil's real clay heavy, it can still push through tiny cracks in the concrete regardless of slope. So yeah, regrading is a solid move, but it's not a cure-all for every leaky basement out there.

milesbailey19d ago

Oh man, that's exactly the kind of thing that sneaks up on you. @emma_dixon70, that weekend shovel work probably saved you a lot more than you think.