Soil level of flowerbed on the wall

I agree, while something around an 18 degree slope would be great for the foundation, as well as the issue you have with water in the crawlspace, it's more than necessary, close to unpleasant walking around the house, and it's beyond achievable in many if not a majority of cases. For good balance, I would start out trying 1/8" - 1/4" per foot. You can set up stakes and strings if you wish, but a 4' level along with a good eye will do the trick; starting with the level on grade at the house, holding it level obviously, you would want it 1/2" - 1" high at the end away from the house. I would start with that in a few spots around the perimeter and see how it melds into the rest of the yard. If you can do more than that, great, if not just work with it until you have consistent slope for about 10' out from the house. I would also take a look at the black drainage pipes leading out from the downspouts to make sure they are taking the water far enough out from the house, they are not plugged, and that they are opening to daylight.

You have a few threads open, all concerning the same thing - water in your crawlspace. A mod should really combine these, or just pick one to continue the conversation about grade slope, sump pump/french drain, damproofing, mold removal, ventilation fan, and efflorescence.

I picked this thread because looking at the 1st pic, you can see standing water, looks to have been about 3-4" high. I don't think that is (only) from water coming in through the bricks. The mortar joints looks fine, your vents are way above grade, you have a 12" soffit overhang on the roof.

This looks to me like water coming up from below, whether water table or under the foundation/filler walls. Even heavy rain saturating the very organic dirt from the ~24" wide flower bed, that could even be sloped back to house, should not cause that much standing water, unless there are some gaping holes in the wall your pics don't show.

Maybe some more information - like how deep are your footings, if the brick wall extends to the footings (brick wall just filling in between concrete piers?), and see this pic I circled in red - is that a water reflection I see, so you are next to a lake or swamp?

3onthetree said:

You have a few threads open, all concerning the same thing - water in your crawlspace. A mod should really combine these, or just pick one to continue the conversation about grade slope, sump pump/french drain, damproofing, mold removal, ventilation fan, and efflorescence.

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Well, I am tackling multiple issues here and the solutions are mutually exclusive to me. I also did that for better credibility. But of course, this is up to mods to consolidate them.

3onthetree said:

I picked this thread because looking at the 1st pic, you can see standing water, looks to have been about 3-4" high. I don't think that is (only) from water coming in through the bricks. The mortar joints looks fine, your vents are way above grade, you have a 12" soffit overhang on the roof.

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I had two downspouts that were pouring water in the flowerbed and I just sealed them with tape. I drained the water using a temporary pomp. We have a thunderstorm tomorrow and will see if there is water coming from the wall. That is why I want to add a convert the flowerbed to the lawn. But before that, I will seal the wall down to footing up with black Jack liquid rubber 57!

3onthetree said:

This looks to me like water coming up from below, whether water table or under the foundation/filler walls. Even heavy rain saturating the very organic dirt from the ~24" wide flower bed, that could even be sloped back to house, should not cause that much standing water, unless there are some gaping holes in the wall your pics don't show.

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Well, my house is in a cul-de-sac and my right neither is around 3 feet higher than me. His two downspouts are facing my driveway and pour under my driveways concrete slap. I wonder if water enters from that direction under my foundation as you mention! I have a french drain on the left side of the concrete slab but the concrete is a bit settle and doesn't drain in the french drain. I will to upload pictures for that.

3onthetree said:

Maybe some more information - like how deep are your footings, if the brick wall extends to the footings (brick wall just filling in between concrete piers?), and see this pic I circled in red - is that a water reflection I see, so you are next to a lake or swamp?

Click to expand...

I am pretty sure the soil level inside is around 5" lower than outside. I will send pictures of that. That is a water reflection. There is no water there.


One more thing: I have a contractor (waterproofing company) came for an estimate. He told me you don't need to insulate the wall. He suggested the followings:

1. Put a french drain around the foundation inside crawlspace ( of course corrugated with good sloop). All end to the lowest point of the house.
2. drill a 4" hole in the lowest point of for foundation drainage pipe and connect the french drains ( in part 1) to that.
3. remove the mold & Replace the vapor barrier

All other companies wanted me to insulate the wall with sump pump, dehumidifier, etc.

I am not sure if I should go with this company. This company is the only company that has "waterproofing" include in its name!

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you so much for your time.