Typical cost in Bothell
This page is about water at the footing: drains, downspouts and grade. Bothell Foundation Repair treats water as the thing that moves soil from under a footing and loads a wall, so landscape drains are not part of it.
Around 34 percent of Bothell homes went up between 1980 and 1999, so their footing drains, where they have them, are decades old. Mountlake Terrace and Lynnwood are covered as well.
The cheapest checks come first: does the ground fall away from the house, do the gutters carry roof water off, and where do the downspouts empty? HUD and a University of Minnesota extension guide both name grading and roof water among the causes of wet foundations.
A drain on the plans can still be dead. HUD warns that footing drains already in place may be undersized or may not work as intended, and a blocked or crushed pipe leaves water standing at the footing.
Water that reaches the crawlspace is a drainage problem first. Building America guidance names grading, perimeter drainage and gutters and downspouts as the sources of bulk water in a vented crawlspace.
In HUD’s account of water damage, settlement, wall cracks and wet floors share a cause: fines migrating from under footings, soil losing cohesion, and hydrostatic pressure against walls and floors. That is why drainage sits beside the other services.
The framing above a wet crawlspace is at risk as well; the Forest Service decay manual says damp wood picks up decay fungi.
Two layouts are used. Outside, a perforated pipe sits in gravel at footing level in a trench dug along the wall. Inside, the pipe runs in a channel cut along the base of the wall and may finish at a sump. Access, depth and the spot where water gets in decide which, and we decide after seeing the wall. Ask the city permit office what the building code requires for footing drains on your lot.
Digging comes last. A downspout that empties beside the wall, a gutter packed with debris or ground that tilts toward the house can each cause what a trench would be asked to cure, so they are fixed or ruled out first. On a slope, where the water runs after leaving the downspout counts too.
These factors move a price, and the written estimate comes after the foundation has been seen:
Bothell’s critical areas code calls landslide hazard areas places of historic failure or places potentially subject to landslides because of geologic, topographic and hydrologic factors together. Water is one of those, so where roof and footing drain water ends up on a slope can be a hazard question as well as a drainage one.
The code also lists steep slopes among landslide hazard areas. King County publishes a potential landslide hazard map in its iMap viewer under Environmentally Sensitive Areas, and the state publishes a Natural Hazards view in the DNR Geologic Information Portal. Check both for your address, then ask the city.
No. Damp is a sign that water is getting in, and the first questions are grading, downspouts and drains. It matters for the foundation when the water washes out soil or loads the wall.
It can be, when an inside drain needs somewhere to send the water. Whether it is needed depends on where the water can go.
No. Our drainage work is about protecting the foundation, and drains whose job is to dry out a lawn or a landscape are a different trade.
The Bothell Foundation Repair home page lists all services; crawlspace post and beam repair is the one to read if water has already reached the wood.
Say where the water shows up, whether it is a basement wall, a crawlspace or the yard, and when you notice it, such as during heavy rain. Mention how the lot slopes and where the downspouts empty. We'll get back to you soon with an estimate or any questions we have. Estimates are free and there's no obligation.
Call (425) 491-5234