The Iraq Navy

[PAstash]

So I purchased my first rental I am living in it while doing the repairs necessary to make it suitable for the quality of tenants I want in there. So the place is almost fully renovated. One day there is a heavy rain. I am all of a sudden taking on more water then the Iraq navy. So there is a trench that I now noticed dug into the parameter of the interior of the basement. the entire floor and walls are concrete. So I sprang a few leaks in the walls. It is channeling the water down to a drain pipe which i believe is moving into the sewer systems(not sure if this is legal).

The gutter system needed a replacement it ran down under the ground and i was convinced it was blocked and this was the issue. So i rerouted the gutter and i am still getting water from the same holes/cracks. I am now considering French drains.

There are two smaller rooms in the basement. One is completely blocked off i was told that it was back filled during purchase which i now doubt. The other is a small cement square which is damp constantly. There was a mold issue when purchased i had it treated but didn't realize the water issue.  I have serious concerns about the mold reappearing if i don't address the water so HELP!

I just want to make sure i am doing the right thing due to me reaching the end of the repair budget. I wanted to see how much it would cost to have it done for me. I only have another 10-14k left in my ARV price. Luckily i left myself a lot of wiggle room due to how good of a deal i got on the place.

recap.

water in the basement. mold remediated by professionals. Do i do French drains it myself? (zero experience) how much would i pay to do this? what kind of company do i find to perform the work? add any other info you think i should know. Thanks in advance. I am out of resources to look for help on this issue. figured I'd toss it on here.

[zolotiyeruki]

I'm no expert, but there are a few things I've heard repeated many times:
1) route downspouts away from the house
2) grade the land so that it slopes away from the house
3) make sure sump pump(s) discharge away from the house.

How old is this house?  There should be a drain tile buried around the outside of the footers, which drains into a sump and gets discharged either into a storm sewer or outside your property.  If that system isn't working, or if the house never had one, that might explain the trench in the basement.

[GuitarStv]

^ That's all good advice.

The interior trench system is a cheaper way of handling a basement that leaks all the time than digging up the entire foundation and waterproofing the outside of it.  I have no personal experience with the effectiveness of it, but it's common enough that I read about that solution when we were looking for waterproofing ideas.

You will get mold again if your basement is flooding.  Your basement will flood again unless you do something that fixes whatever problem is causing the flooding.  In the future, always remember that a mold issue is a water issue.

[tallen]

I'd install a sump pump first, that may be all you need. Then if that doesn't solve the issue you can add the french drain on later. But as has already been said make sure your gutters and outside grading are moving water away from the house before you do anything else