I am considering purchasing a house in North Carolina that has some problems with the foundation. The house was built in 1963. Soil is dense, red clay. It has a block foundation, with brick veneer. The lot slopes slightly toward the house from the east (rear of house) and then drops off quite steeply on the west side (front) of the house. Downspouts from the gutters feed into masonry pipes at several locations along the foundation wall. Viewed from the inside of the crawl-space, there is obvious water seepage into the block foundation wall. Many blocks are moist, blackened (mold?) and partially cracked. The mortar between many of the blocks is crumbling. Signs of water infiltration are apparent along the entire length of the rear (east) wall, and in the center of the front (west) wall. Viewed from the outside, there is a large crack/separation in the brick below a window on the front-side (west) of the house, which seems to be in the same location as the wet/blackened blocks. There are only minor signs of cracking/separation in the bricks along the length of the rear of the house.

Questions: What role could the masonry pipes that are connected to the gutter downspouts be playing in the problems? What would be a typical cost to excavate along the front and back walls and repair cracks, water-proof, and repair/upgrade the drainage system (about a total of 100 linear feet)? Should any of the cracked/discolored foundation blocks be replaced? Can the cracks in the brick veneer be repaired?

The question about the downspouts depends on what's going on with the pipes that you can't see. Occasionally someone installs a perforated pipe foundation drain and then connects the downspouts to it. That can sometimes pressurize the perforated pipe and pump water out of it and possibly into the foundation. Sometimes the piping system WAS fine, but has now become clogged or infiltrated by tree roots, and doesn't flow any more. No way to know. I often advise clients in that situation to disconnect the downspouts from the pipes and extend them 6 or 8 feet away from the house temporarily, and see if it makes any difference. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.

A good mason can repair whatever is wrong with your foundation, replacing blocks or bricks, but cracks through the wall need special treatment...not expensive, but special. If you have read through LicensedWaterproofer's many posts in this forum, you'll know what it entails.

Your other questions, about costs, are best answered by LicensedWaterproofer, who is in that business in the Detroit area.

House hunting in Tar Heel country...

ok, water coming through cracks in Bsmt wall(s) and other openings in bsmt wall needs to be waterproofed `n backfilled w/gravel

direct openings ABOVE ground are also important, need to be tuckpointed etc

pipes/downspouts.... have had quite a few homeowners have those pipes blocked/clogged and filled with water on outside. Even though some water backed up and ran onto--into soil in the immediate area, the PROBLEM as to why water was entering were cracks in basement wall,loose parging.open mortar joints at-just below ground.

Water/moisture was entering through-these direct openings regardless of the blockage. Some did indeed try and snake etc the pipes, still leaked/more mold-efflorescence etc in future.

Some not only snak`d the pipe but also dug down 1-2', layed either shingles, heavy visqueen or other crap(poured concrete too) down and against the bsmt wall, sloped it away and then added dirt/top soil and also sloped that away....still leaked. lolol so, always BEST to FIND and seal ALL openings/cracks into home, too many play and pray

100' ...also depends on DEPTH to footing, that is quite important. some are 4',6',8', 10'++

if we use 6' deep X 100 linear ft...and no concrete in the way(wld have to be saw-cut,18-24") and no central air unit etc right against house, about $8,000. Now, you may get some estimates/same footage between $9,000 and 11,000

on the other hand, some contractors will backfill with 1/3 or 1/2 or even ALL of the same soil, lol, yup. Sooooo, they may come in at $6,000 or, as high as 11,000 believe it or not. Its unreal sometimes. A few around here will not backfill with most/all peastone-whatever and use 1/2 or most of same soil YET charge as much or more! dumbshtts they are