My current house was built in 1997 and I moved in about 2 1/2 years ago. For the most part, it has given me no major issues, aside from the usual 'features' (mis labeled/mis wired 3 way switches, switches wired to nothing, male-2-male drainpipe job by the contractor for the utility tub, etc).
Over the last year, I've acquired a set of problems that needs fixing, and they're all somewhat related. I just wanted to get some thoughts and advice on the problems, and their solutions (order of solutions) before I set about on my summer tasks.
#1. Basement wall cracks. I have two of them. The first is outside, above ground. The second one is inside, below ground. The two don't overlap, and nothing leaks. I've sealed the inside crack. I need to seal the outside crack. Since it's above grade, is there any reason to do anything special other than the run of the mill crack filler?
#2. Ground erosion near the crack in #1. This was caused by heavy rain runoff from the deck above it...more than the likely, the deck was not sloped correctly. For now, I need to get more topsoil, and fill in the erosion holes, and slope it away from the foundation. The back of the house in this area gradually slopes down to the walk out basement door, so there's only so much sloping away I can do, vs. the grade down to the door. After it's been filled, what's the easiest thing to do to that section of wall to prevent that from happening again? Would it be worth it to make that area stones, or something else that will dissipate the falling water?
#3. Ground erosion on the side of the garage. The grass has never grown well in that area. When I moved in, I could barely see the spot in the block where the Sump drainage pipe came out under the garage floor and into the gutter drain pipes. Now it's obvious. When I'm dealing with the dirt and sloping in the back, I need to build up the side as well. It doesn't look like that filled the hold where the pipe goes through in the garage wall. Is it worth fixing that now, or does it not really matter since it's just the garage wall?
#4. The inside basement walls were painted with Drylock. The outside was never painted. I would like to paint the exposed parts of the outside walls, just to keep the water from beating up the mortar joints and any crack patches/fixes over time. Any reason not too do such a thing? I'm assuming it would be better to do that BEFORE I start messing with getting dirt/sloping/grass back around the side and back where the above issues are?
Thanks for the tips.
-=Chris