I'm just full of questions this morning...
My house is on sloping ground. It slopes down to the front of the house and continues sloping down behind the house (down to a dropoff which is the edge of a flood plain). It's a moderate-to-steep slope.
The foundation is cement block (long story, was supposed to have brick facing but the *(%#@ contractor didn't do it). Anyway, the foundation sticks two feet out of the ground at the front of the house and it's about seven feet tall at the back of the house.
The ground will be graded so that there's a dip in front of the house that extends around to the sides. (I'm not sure of the technical term - a 'dip' is not quite as deep as a ditch.) Theoretically this will lead the water around the house.
Question - should I have the 'dip' dug deeper (more like a 'ditch')?? How about putting a perforated pipe and/or gravel in it and covering it with dirt?? Is there stuff that I can put on the outside (or inside) of the concrete block foundation to help prevent any water problems?? (The basement will not really be used for anything but I want to forestall any water problems now rather than later.) Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated...
Thanks.
My house is on sloping ground. It slopes down to the front of the house and continues sloping down behind the house (down to a dropoff which is the edge of a flood plain). It's a moderate-to-steep slope.
The foundation is cement block (long story, was supposed to have brick facing but the *(%#@ contractor didn't do it). Anyway, the foundation sticks two feet out of the ground at the front of the house and it's about seven feet tall at the back of the house.
The ground will be graded so that there's a dip in front of the house that extends around to the sides. (I'm not sure of the technical term - a 'dip' is not quite as deep as a ditch.) Theoretically this will lead the water around the house.
Question - should I have the 'dip' dug deeper (more like a 'ditch')?? How about putting a perforated pipe and/or gravel in it and covering it with dirt?? Is there stuff that I can put on the outside (or inside) of the concrete block foundation to help prevent any water problems?? (The basement will not really be used for anything but I want to forestall any water problems now rather than later.) Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated...
Thanks.