Here is the sump pump, it is filling but not from the drain tile. Just water seeping in through the weep holes. The gray pipe coming in from the drain tile is completely dry. The sides near the door are all wet; so water is flowing down into the sump.
The weep holes I drilled in the stairs seem to have helped somewhat; as the water flow through the weep holes is much less.
The black pipe is apparently the worst french drain system ever...
It runs from the base of the triangular grass section and follows the sidewalk; then curves around the garage and goes under the brick stairs there... There is no crushed rock and there is no mesh covering until about 3 feet from the garage. Sorry they are hard to see; it started getting dark. The pipe wasn't buried very well either; there were large air pockets under long lengths of it.
Finally here is a fresh picture of the stairs; and a picture of the hole I dug tonight; I decided to dig in the window well as it couldn't collapse on me. I got about 5 inches from the depth of where the weep holes I drilled are. I started to hit a clay/mud substance about then. I couldn't really dig further without more equipment/time. I worked long hours again so I didn't start until late :-(
I hope I didn't miss answering any questions.
I'm working on a diagram of the yard and a plan of what I might like to do; but I want to wait and see if jomama comes down as it may change the plan...
Thanks for all the help so far!
edit: Thought I would add some information:
1) Multiple contractors said they "couldn't get a digger in the back yard to dig the foundation anyway".
2) Multiple contractors said they would only remove the stairs by taking down the top 2 and then filling it in.
3) All of the debri you see in the one picture (the large masonry bricks or whatever they are called) were dug out of the front side yard before regrading it. Some kind of crummy retaining wall thing.
4) Not pictured, on the neighbors to the west side; the grade is above the foundation at the back of the house; I'm having nightmares about that episode of Holmes were the main beam rotted because of this..