I have a small home with a basement that is 40 by 24 feet. The basement leaks at the place where the concrete walls intersect with the concrete floors. I have repaired the gutters and improved some of the drainage. However, when I get about 2 to 2.5 inches of rain, I get a moderate amount of water (some pools about 1/2" deep in some parts of the basement.) Also, there is a sump pump in the basement, but I have no idea of how well it is served by weeping tiles (the house was built in 1972) because so far, it has not been worth it to dig up the ground near the walls.
The slope that the house is on generally goes gently from the back to the front (from West to East), but on the north side where a driveway is located the water is directed to the side of the house because the driveway slopes towards the house (a south slope) and because there is a small mound of about 4 inches that keeps the water from going further down the driveway to the street. Also, on the south side, there is a 3 foot wide strip that does not drain water efficiently from the back to the front. However, the south side is merely grass and ground. Once water gets to the front of the house it drains away to the street.
Someone has offered to fix the water problem in the basement by cutting a small trench in the floor adjacent to the basement walls and directing the water to the sump pump. This will cost me about $5,100 in Cincinnati and comes with a lifetime guarantee.
My other alternative is to try to direct the water that is attracted to the sides of my house to the front. My guess is that it would be possible to to put something like a small trench or a curb on the low part of the driveway (the driveway runs east-west) and let the water run to the front. However, two things give me pause. First, I believe that I would need a fairly sophisticated concrete person to construct this type of drainage--the slope is so gentle (maybe six inches from the back of the house to the front) that I would be afraid that an average concrete person might not slope it correctly, which would leave the water still flowing toward the house's foundation on the driveway side. Second, I doubt that anyone fixing the concrete on the driveway would guarantee that the basement would not leak. Thus, I could spend a fair amount of money and still have a leaky basement. In addition to the modification of the driveway, I would also need fairly sophisticated landscaping on the south side 3-foot strip -- because of the gentle slope of the land from the front to the back.
I am wondering what everyone thinks is my best alternative. I would like to save money on the basement repair by doing grading type repairs, but if the grading type repairs don't work, I will have to go inside-the-basement trenching route anyway after having paid for the grading. Any insights would be appreciated.
Thanks,
JD