I have a foundation vent that lets water into the basement and leads to flooding when it rains. I have plenty other vents and so I would like to completely close this one. The water comes in because the water collects in the flower bed outside the house.
I want to seal it. And I am looking for suggestions on how to do it. I am a new homeowner. Don’t know much about all this.
I'd suggest that the problem is the flower bed, not the vent. Grade should be reduced and sloped properly to prevent the problem. Consider rain gutters in the area. You could also switch to a flower box to keep soil away from the foundation. Obviously the vent was installed to provide fresh air to the crawl space, preventing mold and decay, and it should probably be retained.
If you do want to close it, the usual course of action is to remove the vent and install concrete as per the rest of the wall. This could be in the form of bricks or blocks mortared into place rather than poured concrete, but it would provide a good basis for a waterproof coating.
You could also mount a rot-resistant panel of some sort (vinyl, metal) into the opening and caulk it to the existing concrete or fasten it to the surface with a neoprene gasket using concrete screws.
