I"m not sure where to put this, so I'll start here/
Basic question is who do I go to help investigate "mystery wet interinal lower part of drywall" I"m concerned about a crack in the concrete slab onthe ground floor of a split level house.

Background:
This is my mother's house 250 miles away, I cant be there to investigate ( 2nd hand info/ pictures)
Area in question is ground floor incl:
Rec room is a carpeting on slab (no vapor barrier)
Utility room and bath room are tiles on slab
Patio off the rec room ( see pic)
Never any water intrusion or basement flooded,

She noticed 3/4 weeks ago interior and exterior drywall wet/ moist paint peeling( about 3 weeks old maybe longer her said) on her ground floor Rec room. It has a small guest bath (Toilet/ sink) and utility room off it (washer/ dryer, water main/ meter) See attached pic

Per the drawing the interior drywalls that have red scribble are moist( moisture meeter reads 12-14%) to about 2 ' up. this inlcludes the walls in the bath, and wall in the rec room . Rug feels dry everywhere.

I had a plumbler come take a quick look and he didn't see any wet pipe/ active leak
I had a handyman come on and not find any wet floors/ damp rugs
Neither went into the crawlspace and checked behind the wet wall.
Crawlspace as I remember isnt slab but has gravel/ dirt that is level with the slab in utility / rec room/

Further background in late July? there was a big big big storm with rain that really put some flooding in the neighborhood, people's rec rooms and basement flooded ( very rare) She wasnt home. Came home 4 days later and noticed nothing.
Its very possible that water could have come in thru the back door on the patio and ingressed. But why isnt the rug wet? ( havent checked the wall that abutts the patio)

My "fear" is there is a crack in the concrete slab. and hyrostatic pressure form the severe rain/ increased higher water table cause the water to ingress through a crack in the slab, but still why isnt the rug wet ( no vapor barrier)
Its also a potential the main water pipe running into the house and water meter behind the water softener in the utility room) has a leak? but then again why isnt the floor currently wet?

The piping however, behind the WS ( water softener) in the utility room, is covered loosely with plywood, plumber didnt see anything wet or leaking.

So who do I go to look at this comprehensively???
Any help is appreciated.

I reached out to Lead detection services.
https://www.americanleakdetection.com/harrisburg/
500$ for 2 hours and they would look for concrete cracks ( but I have to tell them they need to pull up tile or look under the carpet. I know there were cracks under the carpet but what is worrisome and what is not worrisome( thinks cracks in your foundation some are just normal cracking)

I dont want to potentially spend 20k on slab repair if a crack is found but not shown to be the issue

Sigh

 

Any time there is a question about a water issue, typ a basement, the first comment/question you will get is what about gutters and ground slope around the house. If water is being dumped close by then it's going to find a path of least resistance which a lot of times is into the basement/lower area.

 

Hi Marc: Agreed, drainage/ slope is the first thing I thought of tooo
but... nothing has changed in the last 20years, Neighbors gutter, our gutter/ drain/ slop

Even if we did anything.. it would be next to impossible. Our neighbor hood, was graded has really bad back in the 40's. Hard to describe impossible how but think close suburban living and a 5k sw ft yard that is sloped to the house. like every other house in our block

 

So in other words the gutters and downspouts could not be clogged now.

 

PJ Max... no.. I have a "guy" who cleans out , Was just done this past March. Minimal debris found.
no change in 20 years = grading/ sloping

Also spoke to neighbors who abutts the worst part and his gutter point away and were not clogged. He went out during the storms routinely to clear that drain pipe that is between our houses.

But circling back to my original question. who is someone, if at all, who can comprehensively assess, drainage, pipes leaking, slab cracks potentially etc vs hiring out 4 different specialites

 

I'm going to state the obvious, you!

My suggestion start with the obvious, like the grade and gutter discharge, move on to sump pump discharge then move on to visual inspections and get a feel for what is going on yourself them reach out to specialist!

​​​​​​​Others will have other recommendations!

 

I wonder how the pipes run above those wall that are wet. Is there incoming water lines and drains and vent pipes there? There has to be something in common with those walls. Since the floors are not wet it must be coming from above.

 

Go out and go all the way around the foundation, scooping out any soft material and also gravel on the ground surface witnin 2 feet of the foundation. Set this material aside some distance away from the house, or discard it.

Then after it has been raining hard for awhile, go out and wallk all around the foundation. Anywhere there is water puddling up against the house needs to be filled in with dirt comparable to the rest of the lawn.