Wet basement walls may be resolved by directing water away from the house. An Underground Downspout installed will then disperse it so it doesn't pool on the surface or send it to the neighbors. A wet basement wall usually can be fixed if you raise the ground nearest the house. Do not waterproof the basement wall on the inside article.

If you and your neighbor can get together on a project you can send most of that trapped water to the front yard. Plan is to raise the ground between the houses so water flows from between the houses to the front yard. In addition, install a PVC drainpipe from the front yard to between the houses to collect the water from both of your downspouts. This will help alleviate much of the trapped water discharged around the homes during a heavy rain.

Before a job of this size is considered, some landscape engineering is required. How does the earth pitch around the houses? How low is the backyard compared to the front? If a pipe is installed to carry water away from an area, how deep will it have to be buried for the water to drain completely away? These are easy questions to answer with a string, a line level and a tape measure.

First, get a line level, nylon string, and some 36-inch stakes. Drive the first stake in the front yard, on the lot-line, between the homes. Drive the other stake (or use the fence) on the lot-line about ten feet into the back yard. Attach the line level to the middle of the nylon string. Stretch the string very tight and tie it to the stakes. Adjust the height on the stakes until the line level is level, keeping the string about a foot off the ground.

Measuring from the string to the ground may indicate why water is trapped between the two houses. You will also use this line to determine the pitch of the pipe so water drains from the back area to the front yard. You will also see if you can dig by hand or should rent a trencher.

Next, plan the PVC pipe from your gutters to the lot line where the main drain to the front yard will be. Fit the pipe together on the ground before a shovel is stuck into the earth. Once all the piping is figured out, the digging can begin.

Start at the back of the homes where the pipe will be the highest. Measuring from the level string down, add about an inch and a half for every ten feet of pipe. This should be enough pitch so water will flow properly.

Use some of the dirt from the trench to raise the grade between the two houses. The knowledge from the line level should indicate where the best high point between the two homes should be.
If basement windows are a problem when raising the grade, install a window well. Install it several inches higher than proposed grade. This will eliminate water leaking in the windows.

Out in the front yard at the end of the drainpipe install a Beaver Underground Downspout. It looks like a sprinkler head on a one-gallon bucket with a four-inch hole in its side. The top pops up when water discharges out of it during heavy rains. When installing it use at least a bag of pea stone around and below the head. This will aid dispersion of small amounts of water from light rains.

I know of half a dozen of these systems in the area that are saving basements and friendships alike. When water in the basement is a problem, do not deal with it there. Go outside and make that water drain away, preferably to a storm drain where it will go to the lake.