Port Townsend: Water Pools Against My Foundation Every Time It Rains

Why this happens in Port Townsend

Start with downspouts. The buried line is crushed, clogged or was never there, and roof water dumps at the wall. Around Water Street and Fort Worden the housing dates from an 1880s Victorian seaport ringed by mid-century neighborhoods, which makes this the likeliest answer to water at the foundation.

Then grading. The ground slopes toward the house in the first few feet. We've seen it near Fort Worden more than once, usually on copper on the Hastings Avenue grid.

Don't overlook a dead footing drain. Silted corrugated pipe or a buried outlet. On Port Townsend properties from an 1880s Victorian seaport ringed by mid-century neighborhoods it comes up more than you'd think.

Before you call

Sandy bluffs above the Strait and the Bay, clay seams in the uplands, and Victorian-era foundations that never had footing drains.

First steps for water at the foundation near Sheridan Street: check the slope against the wall on every side. Watch the downspouts in a hard rain. Note which wall gets wet and what's uphill of it. Then call; the rest is a locate through sandy bluffs above the Strait, not guesswork.

What happens next

When it's the buried line, the fix in Port Townsend is downspout drain line repair: we excavate, backfill and restore through outwash sand under the historic districts at the marked spot on small Victorian lots in Uptown, and replace. Solid PVC and HDPE and the mini excavator ride on the first trip so it's finished the same visit.

Point Hudson, Sheridan Street, Cape George: near any of them, water at the foundation gets the same crew and the same equipment. A dedicated trip across the Hood Canal Bridge, day or night, with the mini excavator on the trailer for acreage toward Cape George.