LWP: Thank goodness I found these site before I called the "waterproofing specialists". Our house is eight years old and we live across the street from a lake that is supposed to be regulated, i.e., if it looks like we are going to get 3+ inches of rain, they are supposed to open the dam and release water, so that we don't all end up swamped. Doesn't always happen. Most of all my other neighbors on the street are on slabs, so they don't deal with this problem. The first year we lived in the house, we ended up with 3 inches of water in the basement and all our boxes of stuff we hadn't put away destroyed. Over the course of the eight years, we have had to pump water out on 4-5 occasions. In the past six months, we have had water in the basement 3 times. The most was last October when we had a total of 9 inches of rain in 48 hours and the water in the basement almost covered our burner. Thank goodness for our great fire dept who came and pumped us out twice, since our pumps couldn't keep up. I have finally reached my tolerence level. Don't want to have to waste three days out of my life pumping water out and then cleaning up. Luckily, we haven't finished the basement. Doesn't seem like a good idea. I know that it is groundwater because I have watched it come in, amazing how fast it happens. Had a local plumber come out and look around the property and showed us that two of our downspouts are not giving us adequate drainage away from the foundation, but the other two are sloping away. Suggested that we put in a sump pump and then hook the two downspouts that are not sloping away from the house to the drainage pipe from the sump pump. Does this sound adequate. My neighbor, who has a finished basement and always ends up with at least 6 inches more water than we do, has had two contractors tell him that he needs a french drain system which will cost at least 5k. I will make a point of having him check this site before he does anything. Thank for any advice.