Best way to prevent basement flooding

Question

I am trying to mitigate my basement flooding. The flooding is pretty minimal. Just in two location water seeps through the floor. One spot is in the back corner of the house and the other is along the back wall toward the middle of the house. The flooding is pretty minimal just about 1-2 inches of water probably 3-4 feet size puddle. There is a concrete pad directly behind this wall outside so I’m not sure how to divert the water other than installing a sump pump.

Answer 1

The ideal solution is to waterproof the foundation and that's best done during construction.

Since it's too late for that, your next best option is to waterproof after the fact. This is best done from the outside, involves excavation & back filling and can usually be quite expensive. Even when it's done, there's no guarantee that it'll stop all water ingress, especially since it won't waterproof under the floor.

A French Drain around the inside wall of the foundation (local code permitting), draining into a sump pit which is then emptied by a sump pump is the bog standard way of dealing with water that gets into a basement. Unless you have a specific aversion to sump pumps (which wasn't specified in the question) this is probably your most cost effective way of solving the issue.

Answer 2

In general, the problem is nearly always outside, and quite often it is simple to correct.

The next time there is a heavy rain, put on your raincoat and hat and walk around the house:

• Are any gutters overflowing?
  If so, something is clogged or the gutters aren't sloping toward the downspouts.
• Is the water from the downspouts flowing far away from the foundation?
  If it isn't, the horizontal pipes need to be extended.
• Are pools of water forming near the foundation?
  If so, the land isn't sloping away from the house and needs to be landscaped.
• Is there paving that runs right up to the foundation?
  If so, seal the gap and make sure the paving slopes away from the foundation.

All of these problems are easy to detect and relatively easy to correct.

After that, if there is still infiltration, examine in more detail to find where the water is getting in and where it is coming from, and then make appropriate corrections.

If the problem remains but isn't serious, you could have a sump and pump installed, but that's treating the symptom rather than the cause.

After all that, then it's time to call in the professionals and pay the big money.

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In your specific case, you say "There is a concrete pad directly behind this wall outside".

I suspect that the pad was laid level rather than sloping away from the house. That's easy to check, especially when it's raining (or flood it with a hose).

If that's the cause, it needs to be either removed or tipped slightly, and depending upon what this particular pad actually is, that could be anywhere from a few hours of your time, to hiring professionals with heavy equipment.

Answer 3

If one cannot easily landscape a slope away from the house (my flat has a tiny basement patio with house and walls all around it), digging and installed a drainage channel around the house is a good solution. That way less of the water is going to go up against and underneath the house and instead down the drain.

Also widen existing drains so that there is less of a chance that leaves and or rubbish can block them. Also a cheap leaf guard and sweeping the patio regularly will help that.