Water Pools Against My Foundation Every Time It Rains
Standing water against the house after rain is a drainage failure: downspouts, grading, a dead footing drain or runoff from uphill. All fixable from outside.
A puddle along the foundation wall that lasts for days after rain. A bed next to the house that's always saturated. Efflorescence or staining on the foundation at the same spot every winter. Water against a foundation is a drainage problem, and on Kitsap's till and clay it's an especially common one, because the ground won't absorb what the roof and the slope deliver.
The sources are the usual four, in order of likelihood: downspouts discharging at the wall or into a buried line that's failed; grading that slopes toward the house; a footing drain that silted shut or lost its outlet; and groundwater perched on the hardpan moving downhill from above. Often it's two of them together, and the fix is to handle each one where the water comes from rather than waterproofing the wall and hoping.
We test the downspouts with a hose, read the grade, find and test the footing drain outlet, and look at the slope. Then we fix what's actually wrong: new solid downspout lines to a real outlet, regrading and a swale, a rebuilt footing drain in fabric and rock, or a curtain drain across the slope above the house. Exterior drainage is excavation work in Washington and it's a core part of what we do.
What it usually means
Downspouts
The buried line is crushed, clogged or was never there, and roof water dumps at the wall. Highest-return fix on the list.
Grading
The ground slopes toward the house in the first few feet. Regrade and, where needed, a shallow swale.
A dead footing drain
Silted corrugated pipe or a buried outlet. The drain fills and water sits at the footing.
Runoff and groundwater from uphill
On sloped lots, a curtain drain uphill of the house intercepts it before it reaches the backfill.
What to check first
- Watch the downspouts in a hard rain.
- Check the slope against the wall on every side.
- Find the footing drain outlet and see if it flows.
- Note which wall gets wet and what's uphill of it.
When to call
- Downspouts and grading look fine and it still pools
- The footing drain has no outlet you can find
- The crawlspace or basement is wet too
- You want one crew to diagnose and fix all of it
The fix
When it's a buried line or an exterior drain, the fix is downspout Drain Line Repair: we locate first, open the ground once, repair or replace, and put the surface back. One crew, 24 hours a day. (206) 354-9906.
What it looks like when we find it
Water at the foundation, town by town
The likely causes shift with the ground, the housing era and the water utility. Pick your community.
Bremerton
The shipyard city's older galvanized lines fail quietly and show up as a wet lawn or a water bill nobody can explain.
Silverdale
The 1980s and 90s subdivision boom around the mall left thousands of polybutylene service lines that are now failing on schedule.
Port Orchard
The county seat's hillside lots and clay soils turn small leaks into slope problems, and long rural runs hide breaks for months.
Poulsbo
Little Norway's mix of century-old downtown lines and fast-draining bay-side outwash means leaks hide well and fail suddenly.
Bainbridge Island
Clay soils and 500-foot driveways make island leaks slow to surface and expensive to guess at, which is why we locate before we dig.
Kingston
Ferry-town acreage with long wooded service runs where a leak can hide under hardpan for an entire winter.
Keyport
A century-old Navy village with short lots, old lines and shoreline clay that keeps everything damp.
Tracyton
Bluff-side lots over Dyes Inlet where seeps and springs make it easy to mistake groundwater for a leak and vice versa.
Hansville
Beach cabins at the tip of the peninsula with shallow lines, high water tables and a long drive for anyone who isn't already in Kitsap.
Indianola
A century-old summer colony where shared lines, easements and bluff clay make leaks a neighborhood puzzle.
Suquamish
Two utilities, mixed-era housing and Agate Pass shoreline clay in the heart of the Port Madison reservation.
Manchester
Rich Passage waterfront lots where the service line runs downhill and every leak finds the beach.
Enetai
East Bremerton's bluff-side neighborhood where mid-century copper lines fail on slopes that drain toward the bay.
Lofall
Rural acreage between Poulsbo and the Hood Canal Bridge where well lines run hundreds of feet through hardpan.
Olalla
Well country at the south end of Kitsap where a leaking line shows up as a pump that won't shut off.
Seabeck
Hood Canal forest parcels where boulders, hardpan and long well lines make guessing at a leak an expensive mistake.
East Port Orchard
South Kitsap's 1970s and 80s subdivisions where copper and poly lines are reaching the end of their run.
Rollingbay
The northeast corner of Bainbridge where clay slopes, long drives and small community systems keep leaks hidden for seasons.
Port Townsend
A Victorian seaport where 1890s service lines sit under historic sidewalks and the gravity pipeline from the Quilcene delivers the water.
Questions
Can downspouts go into the footing drain?
What fixes it
Downspout Drain Line Repair
Replace crushed, clogged or missing buried downspout lines so roof water gets away from the foundation.
Read more →
Footing Drain Repair
Expose, repair and replace foundation footing drains that have silted, crushed or separated and are letting water into a crawlspace.
Read more →
French Drain & Yard Drainage
French drains, curtain drains, catch basins and swales that move water away from foundations, driveways and soggy lawns.
Read more →Something underground isn't right?
We answer 24 hours a day. We locate before we dig, and we handle the whole job with our own crew and equipment.