Why your downspout matters more.

About a third of the basement leaks I look at are caused by downspouts dumping water against the foundation. The fix is usually $200 of extension pipe, not $20,000 of waterproofing.

Walk around your house during the next rainstorm. Look at where each downspout discharges. If it lets out within four feet of the foundation, you have a problem. The water saturates the soil right against the wall, and that's where the leak comes from.

Fix it before you call us. Get downspout extensions that carry water at least six feet away from the foundation, with the discharge end pointed downhill. If your yard slopes toward the house, you may need to bury a 4" PVC line and run it out to daylight.

If you do that and the leak goes away, you just saved yourself a major repair. If it doesn't, now we know it's not the gutters and we can diagnose what it actually is.