Uncontrolled seepage. I became a seepage expert shortly after I purchased my old house, stacking loads of boxes in the basement and landscaping the yard. The first heavy rains brought buckets of water through my foundation and into the basement. My research confirmed what I’d already suspected: that there were no miracle cures, and that waterproof coatings and patches slopped onto the interior basement walls probably would fail miserably. The only answer was to excavate down to the bottom of the foundation wall. Out came the shrubbery, grass, walks and everything else in the way. It was like digging the Erie Canal. It took all summer to parge and waterproof the foundation walls, install drain piping and gravel,