I have a serious problem. Every time it rains, the lowest level of my split level home leaks. The amount of water and force entering is like a faucet was turned on (but none is turned on). The water enters in a corner of the stairwell. I noticed that the leak is in line with the main stack which is located on the level above. Could my leak be caused a leak in the main drain pipe leading to the sewer system? If it is a leak in the main drain, how is this amount of water entering the system? Could it be my drain tiles? If so, is repairing/fixing a drain tile problem expensive?

This may not solve your problem but give you some insight.

We are below the water table because we live very close to Lake Ontario. Our house seems to be just a tad lower then our neighbours. We found a leak at the northeast corner of our house which was pretty consistent. My husband dug up along that particular part of the outside basement and tarred it. We haven't had that problem again. Of course, before we started digging we had some expert advise from a builder we knew and much inspection of the inside wall of that particular spot.

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Originally Posted by mej7305

I have a serious problem. Every time it rains, the lowest level of my split level home leaks. The amount of water and force entering is like a faucet was turned on (but none is turned on). The water enters in a corner of the stairwell. I noticed that the leak is in line with the main stack which is located on the level above. Could my leak be caused a leak in the main drain pipe leading to the sewer system? If it is a leak in the main drain, how is this amount of water entering the system? Could it be my drain tiles? If so, is repairing/fixing a drain tile problem expensive?

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Tickle thanks for the guidance. My leak is in the middle of the house.

What tickle is saying is, that it is underground water, or in you case rain water that has soaked into the ground and found a way through the wall into you house. The first thing to check is your gutters and down spouts, are they clear and working. Do you have splash blocks or are the down spouts piped to carry the water away from you house. Is the ground graded to carry water away from the house. A lot of rain falls on your roof and it all comes down at these points. If you don't get it away from your house its going to soak into the ground and look for a way inside. Usually the water just sort of oozes in, you statement "like a faucet" makes me really suspect the gutters and down spouts. Otherwise its dig up the ground outside of your house and seal the walls.