Deficient/defective grading and drainage conditions can cause foundation parging/stucco/plaster delamination, masonry/foundation deterioration, and dampness at interior walls, basement, crawlspace, and/or beneath the slab water and/or moisture penetration. It can cause water penetration during prolonged periods of rain or snowmelt. Over time, this can cause abnormal foundation settlement and damage. Maintain positive drainage and grading to reduce the occurrence. Ponding water can occur with adverse grading and unknown soil drainage conditions.
Grading and drainage are probably the most significant aspects of a property, simply because of the direct and indirect damage that moisture can have on structures. More damage has probably resulted from moisture and expansive soils than from most natural disasters, and for this reason, I am particularly diligent when I evaluate site conditions. In fact, I compare all sites to an ideal. In short, the ideal property will have soils that slope away from the house (not towards) and the interior floors will be at least several inches higher than the exterior grade. Also, the house will have gutters and downspouts that discharge into area drains with catch basins that carry water away to hard surfaces.
If there are no gutters in place, rainwater heads right for the weeping tile around the basement and can overload your foundation drainage system causing a flooded basement. The land around many homes settles over time and then slopes in toward the foundation. If your lot slopes inward, you’ll want to fill in and grade the lot so that, for at least 6 feet
out from around the foundation, the land slopes away from your house. If a property does not meet this ideal, or if any portion of the interior floor is below grade, I will not endorse it, even though there may be no evidence of moisture intrusion.
