dax,
as Richard says, best to see
couple thoughts, obviously wood can attract termites so, why place it underground? Why not brick/block in the window that is underground and then waterproof it? ...thats one possible Point-of-Entry for water/rain
other possible Points-of-entry are, ANY openings around a door,threshold, seams/gaps in siding,and believe it or not...if there is a light-fixture or doorbell with small gaps/openings around em....yep! Any openings/small lil gaps in mortar joints/bricks are entry-points for rain, especially on longer,heavier wind blown rains.
sometimes there are openings along/at top of bsmt wall on outside and on some-homes... top of wall is UNDEGROUND so, any spaces-openings along that point are possible points=of-entry for water. same goes when the top of wall extends above-ground.
way you describe situation, sumps have nothing to do with water/rain entering at higher on wall, gotta find the 'point(s) of entry, the pathways, ALL-any outside openings to stop-prevent water...yeah yeah, some will always want to try and 'divert' water INSTEAD of finding `n sealing the direct openings into home
for instance, when some have a crack in basement wall on a drive-side, instead of waterproofing the crack they`ll apply some foam,tar etc where driveway meets house. Now, while they may get LUCKY for awhile and see no water, sooner or later with a heavier-longer rain water is going to enter through the crack again because they.....never fixed the PROBLEM. The problem all the while was the CRACK in bsmt wall. Like i say, a few will get lucky, MOST will leak again, take that to the bank.
You can run a hose...a water test which will, recreate a heavy rain to, see where/how water is entering. Gotta have some patience when doing this though
Thats why many hm insp`s won`t do this, takes TIME. They rather tell folks to raise the grade, get longer downspouts etc, WRONG answer
Running a hose in your situation will be a lil tougher but you can still do it to help find the problem(S), yep, may be plural.
I`d first run the water at GROUND level, around base of porch, at side of porch if ya have to. DON`t start high first, no. Run the water, soak the CRAP outta the SOIL below/around the porch, you may have to run the water for a bit longer, up to 1 hour and, run the water full blast, not a lil trickle, you want to KNOW.
Ok, so ya soak the ground around the porch, after running that much water, after recreating a good heavy rain, you should find out/see whether or not there is an opening(s) below ground, the window....if you get water in then the window/other opening needs to be sealed/fixed!
If you do NOT get water in after running a ton of water then the opening(s) will be from Ground-level UP. Openings above grade i posted earlier are some of the more common ones, you can spray-soak the siding etc starting just above ground and working UP, slowly. do one isolated area at a time. Have someone helping you, in basement WATCH to see if-when water enters...know what i mean?
And just because you find 1 problem/1 opening--get water in, doesn`t mean there aren`t other openings. Hopefully not, just saying some HO`s have 2++ problem areas.
I run a water test pretty often on estimates, darn good UNBIASED way to show HO how/where water is FIRST entering from the Outside.
