Bainbridge Island: Water Pools Against My Foundation Every Time It Rains

Why this happens in Bainbridge Island

Grading: the ground slopes toward the house in the first few feet. In Bainbridge Island that usually means mid-century galvanized on waterfront cabins near Fort Ward, and the ground, clay that sticks to the bucket, decides how far the water travels before you see it.

The second thing we rule in or out is a dead footing drain. Silted corrugated pipe or a buried outlet. It's common enough on 300- to 600-foot private drives that we never skip it.

Don't overlook runoff and groundwater from uphill. On sloped lots, a curtain drain uphill of the house intercepts it before it reaches the backfill. On Bainbridge Island properties from mid-century cabins, 1970s acreage and 1990s-to-2010s custom homes it comes up more than you'd think.

Before you call

Downspout lines that end in the clay next to the foundation are common.

What you can check yourself on custom-home acreage off Highway 305: watch the downspouts in a hard rain. Find the footing drain outlet and see if it flows. If you get that far, we'll pick it up from there with downspout adapters and cleanouts and solid PVC and HDPE.

What happens next

In Bainbridge Island the work that follows the diagnosis is downspout drain line repair, and it runs in order: replace, backfill and restore, excavate. Rigid PVC on long driveways in Kitsap Formation clay that swells and shrinks sets the pace on sloped waterfront lots at Port Blakely; the sequence doesn't change.

Our Bainbridge Island coverage for water at the foundation runs Agate Pass, Winslow, Eagle Harbor, Lynwood Center and everything between. We're based in Central Kitsap, across the Agate Pass Bridge from the Kitsap side, with downspout adapters and cleanouts and pumps on the truck.