Water pooling next to the foundation
Water standing against the foundation after rain is a drainage problem that often starts at the roof. A downspout that empties at the base of the wall puts every drop from that side of the roof exactly where you do not want it. The fix is to carry the water away from the house, and that is sometimes a gutter job, sometimes a grading job and sometimes both.
The symptom
What you are seeing
- A puddle that forms in the same place against the house every time it rains and takes a day or more to drain. Damp on the inside of a crawl space wall, a musty smell under the floor, or efflorescence, the white powdery bloom on concrete, on the outside of the foundation. Planting beds that stay soggy on one side of the house. In some cases the downspout ends in a splash block that has sunk or cracked, or in a buried pipe that nobody has seen the other end of.
- Walk the house in the rain if you can. Watch where each downspout discharges and where that water goes next. Note any that empty within a foot or two of the wall, any that feed into a pipe in the ground and any ground that slopes toward the house rather than away. Photograph the puddle at its fullest. Half the inspection is done before anyone arrives.
Most likely first
Likely causes
Downspouts discharging at the wall
The most common cause and the easiest to see. Without an extension or a drain, the whole roof's water lands in one spot at the base of the foundation and soaks straight down beside it.
A buried drain that no longer runs
Downspouts piped underground rely on a drain that was laid decades ago. Roots, silt or a crushed section stop it, and the water backs up to the downspout and out at the wall, or seeps out along the pipe.
Ground sloping toward the house
Beds and lawns settle over time, and paving is sometimes laid with a fall toward the wall. Water from anywhere nearby then collects against the foundation, regardless of what the gutters do.
Gutters overflowing above the spot
Water spilling over a gutter edge lands at the wall as surely as an unpiped downspout. If the puddle sits below a corner or a long run, the overflow may be the source rather than the downspout.
Roof water concentrated on one side
A roof that drains mostly to one elevation delivers most of the storm to that side of the house. A single downspout there may be doing the work of three, and everything it cannot pass ends up on the ground.
The honest rule
Repair or replace
Extending downspouts a few feet from the wall, adding splash blocks that actually slope away, or fitting a short run of pipe to a point where the ground falls are small repairs that fix a surprising number of these. So is adding an outlet on the roof side that is doing all the work. If a buried drain is blocked, it can sometimes be cleared; if it has collapsed, a new surface route is usually simpler than digging.
None of that helps if the ground itself slopes toward the house. Regrading, a French drain or a proper surface drain is landscaping and drainage work rather than gutter work, and we will say so instead of selling you gutters that cannot change the slope of a lawn. Where gutters are the cause, the honest question is whether the existing run and outlets can be adapted or whether the roof's drainage needs to be laid out again with downspouts placed for the ground as well as the roof. A new gutter system is only the answer when the old one is also failing in other ways.
What fixes it
The service for this, and where to read more
Service
Gutter repair
Repairs for leaking joints, loose supports and sagging runs when the rest of the gutter can stay.
Service
Gutter cleaning
We remove debris, flush the channels, clear the downspouts and report the condition we find.
Related problem
Gutters overflow in heavy rain
If the gutters drain a light rain and spill along their whole length in a hard one, the run is being asked to move more water than its outlets can pass.
Related problem
Gutter overflowing at one corner
One corner spilling while the rest of the gutter behaves is almost never a sign that the whole system is too small.
Questions
Asked about this problem
How far from the house should a downspout discharge?
Far enough that the water lands on ground that falls away from the foundation, and on most lots that means several feet, not inches. The exact distance depends on the slope and the soil. Clay holds water and needs the discharge further out; sandy ground drains where it lands.
Can you connect my downspouts to an underground drain?
Yes, where there is somewhere for the pipe to go, such as a lower point in the garden, a storm drain connection or a dry well. The pipe needs a fall along its whole length and a clean-out so it can be cleared, or in a few years it becomes the buried drain that no longer runs.
Is the puddle damaging the foundation?
Water standing against concrete for a day or two each storm is not an immediate threat, but a season of it keeps the soil beside the footing saturated, which is how crawl space damp, settlement and cracks begin. Moving the water is cheap compared with any of those, so it is worth doing before the signs appear.
Free estimate
Find out what it costs
Tell us what's happening at your property, one step at a time. We'll review your request during business hours and arrange a free inspection.
What happens after you send it
- We call during business hours to set a time.
- A free visit. We measure on site and nothing is signed at the door.
- The proposed work and the price, in writing.
- (925) 555-0100Phone
- Mon–Fri 7:00 AM – 5:00 PMHours
Sat by appointment · Sun closed
100 Example Road, Brentwood, CA 94513 · office@example-roofing.demo
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