Had an interior drainage system installed in my basement (along with my correcting outdoor grading, etc). We're left with bare walls again, but want to finish them. They were finished to start with so its kind of a "we need it" space. The installer used mira-drain to channel any surface water from the walls into the drainage channel. It goes about 6" up the exposed portion of the concrete foundation walls. The rest of the walls are just bare concrete. I know Building Science recommends foamboard adhered directly to the concrete. My question is what do I do in the situation I have, where the bottom 6" of the wall where the miradrain juts out? Do I butt the foamboard up against the top of the miradrain? Do I adhere foamboard to the miradrain, then add spacer(s) along the wall so the foamboard can go straight up to the top of the foundation (finished off with a strip across the top)? Do I cut the miradrain to be flush with the slab and then just foamboard as Build Science says, covering up the miradrain? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks. -Chris

Hi folks, I struggled to figure out which was the proper forum section to post this question. Hopefully this is the correct one. I have a very minor water leakage issue in my basement (after extreme rainfalls), and I need to order some dirt to improve the grading around my house. As of right now, the soil within a few feet of the foundation is totally level with no slope. Can anyone tell me what type of soil to buy? I checked all the local places that deliver dirt, and most seem to have screened fill or topsoil. I do have plants growing around the house and plan to plant a few more, so I need something that they can grown in. I was thinking something with a high clay content would be best to run the water away, but none of the places I checked had any mention of high clay content fill or soil, and I'm not sure if plants could grow in that. Thanks!!