Rainwater that doesn’t drain away from your foundation can cause moisture problems in basements and crawlspaces. To keep this from happening, check to see that the ground slopes away from the foundation of your home at least 6 inches over a distance of 10 feet.

Adding an extension on the bottom of gutter downspouts is another way to direct water away from the foundation. Also, make sure borders on flower beds have openings to allow rainwater to drain away from the house.

Please Leave a Comment

5 Comments on “How to Keep Water from Damaging the Foundation of Your Home”

You can follow comments to this article by subscribing to the RSS news feed with your favorite feed reader.

1. Rhonda Jobson Says:
   December 14th, 2009 at 5:07 pm

   Where the main water line comes into the house, during the hard rains this year in Georgia, water is seeping in around where the copper pipe comes into the cement wall (about 6 feet down …we had to dig it out when we had blue poly pipe that had to be replaced.) Any way to keep this from happening??

   Thanks!! We love your show!!!!

2. 

   Ben Erickson Says:
   December 15th, 2009 at 9:10 am

   Hi Rhonda,
   Caulk the pipe well on both inside and out.

3. via Says:
   March 5th, 2010 at 7:18 am

   My house sets at the bottom of a little hill on our street. An when it rain our yard catch all the rain coming of the hill, an we have standing water in our yard. What can we do to stop the water from coming of the hill into our yard

4. 

   Ben Erickson Says:
   March 5th, 2010 at 9:29 am

   Hi Via,
   Your best bet would be to grade your yard or create a small depression near your property line so the water is diverted away from your house long before it reaches it.

5. Shannon Says:
   April 7th, 2011 at 6:24 pm

   We have a house on a cement slab, no basement or crawl space. We had gardens installed with walls about 14 inches high and were going to fill them in with dirt. I know we need to slope the dirt away but our landscaper also said we need to put a plastic liner down against the house before filling with dirt. What do you think?

We want to hear from you! In addition to posting comments on articles and videos, you can also send your comments and questions to us on our contact page or at (800) 946-4420. While we can't answer them all, we may use your question on our Homefront radio show, Today’s Homeowner TV show, or online at dannylipford.com.