On the west end of my small house in Cincinnati (the backyard), [I just recently bought the house, so I don't know its history] there is a small crest about 12 feet from the house that drains water toward the basement. (On the other side of the crest, the land slopes away from the house to a vacant lot.) Also, the backyard slopes from south to north, so there is a particularly low area at the Northwest corner of the house. That low corner is about 15 feet away from a spot where the water drains away from the house. On the Northeast corner of the house (the frontyard), there is a narrow slight slope from the corner down the driveway that drains all the way to the street. On the Southeast corner of the house (frontyard again), there is mostly a narrow slope generally towards the front that goes to the road, but there is a slight rise about 8 or 10 feet from the house. (M
There are two gutters that run parallel to each other. The gutter on the South side of the house runs West to East (back to front), and has a downspout in about the mid-point of the house that drains into a pipe that is located in a window well. There is also a downspout at the SouthEast corner of the house. The mid-point gutter is almost surely the cause of a leak in the basement because after a moderate rain a week ago (following a fairly long dry period), water came into the basement through the window in the window well that housed the downspout. I don't know where the pipe that services the downspout ultimately goes, but I would guess that it is supposed to drain into the front of the yard, and I would further guess that it was designed to go into a storm sewer drain that is probably located somewhere in the front yard.
The parallel North side gutter runs from East to West (front to back), and it has only 1 downspout that is at the corner (Northwest corner), and has pipe that was designed to go to the part of the backyard crest that slopes away from the house. However, the pipe doesn't currently properly drain because it was not properly sloped downward and because it does not reach the downward slope. Thus, during the last moderate rain, I got a small amount of leakage in the Northeast corner of the basement.
I should also add that the basement has a sump pump, which does not appear to be working well because the last moderate rainfall caused some leakage in the basement although the ground was still firm after the rain.
My basic question is should I attempt to divert the water away by doing simple grading and gutter repair or should I attempt to repair the weeping tiles that work with the sump pump or possibly should I attempt to install a french drain. Any tips on the best way to solve this problem would be appreciated -- right now, I am totally conflicted as to what is the best way to proceed.