Hello everyone! Here's another long wet basement question: My wife and I just purchased a "split-level" style house, circa 1979, about two yeas ago. At that time I was somewhat ignorant about foundation and drainage problems, and unfortunately our home inspectors didn't help much either. One side of our home, about 50 feet, rests in about eight feet of clay. The ground on that particular side is not graded instead it is almost flat. We also have a two-foot overhand running the length of the house and that keeps some water away. Nevertheless, after good couple days of heavy rain, my cinder block basement walls get moist to the touch, and I've noticed some horizontal and step cracks on one 15-foot section of the wall. These cracks were covered over by the previous owner with latex caulk and paint so they weren't noticeable at first. The cracks are at most 1/8 of an inch wide, and this particular section of wall has developed a slight bow (less than 1 inch). One day last month we got about 4 inches or rain over three hours, and consequently about one gallon of water leaked inn where the slab meets the wall. Now I thought about two fixes and this is where I need some good advice. Option one: get a small track hoe and excavate the outside of the foundation, install a drain, and backfill with stone. The problem here is the expense. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,000, and we would also have to remove a lot of good landscape and a huge concrete patio. The second option would cost less, about $4,000, and would entail installing an interior drainage system, including a sump pump, pointing the bad wall and using tubular steel to reinforce the foundation walls. The second option I like because it's cheaper and is much more convenient; however I don't this fix because I would not eliminate the problem at the source, namely, from the outside. What do you think? Even though the second option is a compromise, is it a decent long-term solution? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you--Marc

I am going to put the Base 2X4 wd,around the entire basement. with and 1" off the wall. What is the proper spacing for the Studs? What is the spec. for the Elec. oulets.