[summerz]

Hello,
If I'm not in the correct category here, please direct me to the correct one.
I have a split level house which has a partially submerged basement. The basement walls are approximately 4 feet deep into the ground.

Every time it rains, water seeps in from 2 walls at the bottom where they meet the basement floor.
I checked the outside of the walls and they're not in the best shape. There are some holes which I filled up hoping to have a temporary fix, but to no avail.
The house has old siding which is asbestos I believe to be about 40 years old.
It needs to be replaced.
I can stick my hand in areas where the wooded part of the house meets the cement basement wall.

My questions are the following...
What is the best way to fix the leaking walls? A neighbor said I should dig out the ground around the walls to the depth of the basement floor, and pour cement... Does this sound right?

Also, I don't know what other water damage might be behind the exterior siding. Would I need 2 different companies... one for the siding and one to repair the basement wall?
If so, what should I do first?

I can't really tell if the water problem is just from what is visible above ground, or if it's deeper where I cannot see.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good company in Bucks County, PA?
I previously have a few windows put in by Sears, and they did a horrible job, not sealing up the windows properly, and they charged a fortune.

Thanks for any info or tips you can give me...

P.S. I'm considering Crane solid core siding, either in a beaded board or a vinyl cedar shake style. Any thoughts on the quality of Crane and also the cost for a split level home which is approximately 1700 square feet?

[skiberger]

I have the same problem w/ my split level. (King of Prussia, PA) Mine has a crawl space instead of a basement. The problem I have is the water enters at the floor joint where it meets the wall.
The people who owned the house before me built up the grade along the exterior of the house and landscaped it. The problem isn't the ground water or anything to do w/ the exterior, it is the water table in my neighborhood.
It can rain like crazy and I'll get no water in the crawlspace but a few hours later when the water table rises then the water starts to seep in.

The thing that needs to be done is a water proofing system needs to be installed. This is something I'll do myself.

A water proofing system is where a company will come in and jack hammer the basement floor about 16" from the basement walls, dig a trench down to the footer and either install drain tile if there isn't any already installed or divert the existing drain tile to a sump pump system. Then they fill in the trench w/ gravel and then re-cement the floor in the repaired area.

A professional company will give life time guarantees on these sytems. The work very well.

Your neighbor is giving you bad advice. That won't solve anything. That's a lot of time and money wasted.

To continue... if I take too long my posts won't post.

I don't know off hand any water proofing companies in Bucks Co. Check your yellow pages and get at least 3 estimates.

As for the Crane siding, if you go to their web site ( or Google Crane) go under contractor/remodeler and punch in your zip code to get a list of Crane installers in your general area. I'm not too familiar w/ the Crane brand but regular vinyl siding is about 250-300.00 a square.