Question
Hello,

My 24 year old home has developed some cracks in the mortar of the
foundation.  The home has a raised cinder block foundation and cedar siding.  
Also there are no gutters.   Currently there's a 2 foot wide path of
gravel/rocks in the front and back of the house between the foundation and
subsequent yard.  It was suggested this could be retaining water whether
than allowing it to run off.

Should I remove these stones and replace with dirt?  Any help you can
provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Andrew

Answer
Andrew,

Foundation problems in older homes are quite common. Although I am not an engineer, I can give you some suggestions.

The first and easiest (sorry to point out the obvious)solution to your draingage problem is to install rain gutters. Aluminum gutters and downspouts are relativey inexpensive and will eliminate the water altogether. You could run your downspouts underground and surface them further in the yard, away from the home, or into the curb and down the storm drain (only if code allows). NDSPRO.com has everthing you will need for and underground system, which you can do yourself. A local contractor will be happy to install the rain gutters.

If a new gutter and drainage system in not an option for you, than I would suggest a couple of other solutions:

1. You mentioned your gravel path is 2 feet wide, but you didn't indicate how deep. Typically, gravel is a good material for areas that you want to DRAIN. So the gravel area along the foundation is probably allowing the water to perculate down further than a clay dirt surface would. You could dig up the gravel (how deep I don't know) and replace it with compacted dirt and this would most likely help the situation. But this would only be a partial fix in my opinion.

2. Depending on the depth of your basement/crawl space, this may be a huge chore. But like the gutter system, it is a permanent fix. Dig out all of the material along your foundation wall in the area that is in question all the way down to your footings. Be sure to dig from the foundation wall past the overhang of the house by at least 2 feet. Once excavated, your footing and block foundation should be exposed. At this point you will want to clean the block and apply water proofing material (membrane or paint) to the surface. Also, I would have a structural engineer (or equivelant) inspect the footings/block for any other repairs that are necessary. After proper inspection and water proofing, you could then just backfill with native soil and compact. An added precaution would be to add a footing drain at the top of the footing where the foundation meets up. This is done by installing 4" perforated corrugated pipe with a soil protector (sock) and covered with 6" of gravel. This drain would again run out into the yard away from the house. You can find more info about this on the internet I'm sure.

I know this sounds like a lot, but without knowing the exact condition of your situation, I gave you a broad scope. Just remember that gravel is for drainage and doing a job right will always be expensive.

Let me know if I can be of further assistance. - BC