[Tommyp!972]

I don't have them now but I want them because during heavy rain.. water seeps into basement and sump pump gets rid of it... I want to cut down on water seepage but I cannot afford to repair basement at this moment... will gutters be OK and how do I protect them from ice and snow come winter?I live on flat land with no hills, next to or behind me.I was told I can build up the land next to house so it slopes away... if you read other posts you know I'm not that handy yet... thanks for any help

[RickJ]

If you have no gutters now then for sure they will work to drastically cut down the water in your basement.

Additionally, you can attach things like these to the bottom of the downspouts to discharge the water further from your house:
http://www.rainguardusa.com/

And yes, make sure that the ground is not sloping toward your home.

[labman]

Gutters or no gutters, you need to have the ground sloping away from the house. You also should have 8'' of foundation between the ground level and the frame of the house. Usually with a basement, the house sets up high enough you can build the ground next to it so it slopes away from the house. It doesn't have to slope much, dropping a couple of inches in the first 4' feet away from the house.

Without gutters or anything, the dirt will wash away where it runs off the roof. If I had it to do over again, I think I would skip the gutters and go with the slotted things I see advertised that shoots the water out away from the house. Otherwise, if you aren't handy, maybe look at having a contractor install the continuous guttering. Ask about gutter guards too. Snow and ice usually aren't a problem if the gutters and down spouts aren't plugged up with leaves and tree seeds.

You do need to do something where the water comes out of the down spout. Otherwise, the gutters and down spouts just concentrate the problem. I have drains for mine going out to the road.

[kp2171]

does the water come in from the walls or up from the floor of the basement? Just curious. I've heard you need to be careful if its coming up from under the house as opposed to just through the walls. Possibility of the house shifting, what I've heard. Don't know if that's true. Others who know can verify.

I've lived on two properties prone to seepage. The previous one we brought in a bunch of dirt, sloped away from the house, laid drainage tile in the back, had the basement waterproofed, and sump pump. Never had a problem again.

current house has gutters but when we bought it we didn't realize one problem. When they put on a deck they pulled out a downspout and covered the old hole... so there's only one downspount on the entire back side = water pours over the gutters = lots of water right by house. Did a small amount of sloping right by the house. Make sure the gutters are clear. These two things have kept it dry through one wet spring and a fall/winter. This year well install new gutters and reroute the downspouts.

as labman said, keeping the gutters clean helps a ton, and gutter toppers are very nice. As for the downspout, all but one of ours runs directly into drainage tile that is buried and runs the water through the yard and out a hillside. Seems to work well enough. Again, only problem when blocked by debris.

[Tommyp!972]

Thanks for the input... im not sure if I can waterproof the old mortar and rock foundation but I will look into it... I heard of some concrete that expands to stop water... other than that I think I'm going to end up building up off the concrete floor and stack plywood on cement blocks so I can at least use the space for some storage.. thansk for everything so far.. TommyP