I am a first time buyer who bought her house almost two years ago with no major problems until two months ago. I found large puddles of water appearing in my basement room which has a living room above it and looks out across my back garden, (we live on a Hill/slope) thus there are three levels to my home. I have checked that no water pipes are leaking as i thought initially it was my central heating pipes which were leaking they are fine. I then found the leak was a gutter gully pipe/connection for my kitchen which was seeping through and coming in to the basement room. Two days after the gully was fixed i noticed water was still coming in each time it rained, I am now puzzled as to where it comes in as the only place I can think of is the side wall of my house has a small wall which was meant to have steps built which would have led to my garden, but it was bricked off in the past. Water collects here naturally when it rains due to the way it slants off. It have been suggested by friends that I concrete/cement? the front slabbed area around the house to slope the water off into a gutter so it will not seep into the basement area under the house. Can anyone explain how to do this correctly is it cement or concrete and what should I be careful of when asking my friends who are not proffessionals at this to help me fix this problem. Also what is the item which is used to reduce damp talked about by several people in the basement? not the dehumidifier.
