Negative grade/crawlspace leak

Specific Inspection Topics Structural Inspections
#1

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Negative grade at the front of my home appears to be the leading cause of the infiltration of a stream of water into my upper crawlspace. Previous owners had a trench dug at the upper block wall creating a mini retention pond. Crawlspace is dry for the most part except for this area. No indications of mold on the floor joists. Pretty sure water is infiltrating through the flower bed. Leak is directly behind this location.

SOLUTION#1- excavate the dirt in flower bed and concrete this area. Use large pots for plants.
SOLUTION#2- install a drain in the upper crawlspace and pipe water out at lower wall.
SOLUTION#3-excavate dirt and install poly barrier.

Any advice would be much appreciated.
Best narratives to write up a similar situation in the field?

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#2

I would just dig it up and regrade the slope away from the house and be done with it. Anything else would be a short term fix and someday someone will decide to grade it correctly anyway.

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#3

Excavate dirt, fix all cracks with hydraulic cement and seal with water proofing, back fill with washed stones and grade top 4" of dirt away from home. JMHO

#4

Bite the bullet and regrade to eliminate the problem.
Any gutters on that side? Looks like there is a short one above the entry that does not go all the way.

#5

Oh oh, don’t show this to @manderson7

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#6

LOL, good thing it’s not a basement. He would like the regrading.

#7

The house is built on a slope. Standing at the front door and looking out to the street is a significant rise.

#9

BTW- there are gutters on the front of the house with downspout diverters piping the water away from the foundation. There is no way to create a positive grade on the front side of this home. Water builds upon the negative end of that flower bed and seeps down through the upper crawlspace wall. The water has found its path of least resistance through one opening in the block wall.

#10

That tells you what you need to do. As Larry said, dig it up, repair all cracks at Exterior of wall, seal wall…etc.

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#11

Thanks guys. Ya’ll have a Merry Christmas.

#12

Drain tile system along with everything Larry said