Water intrusion prevention in Los Angeles

From the ground. Soil that slopes toward the house instead of away from it. Downspouts that empty at the foundation and soak the same spot every storm. Yard and driveway drains that are full, broken or were never there. A below-grade wall, a garage cut into a slope, a crawl space below the sidewalk, with nothing between the wet soil and the concrete. Planters built against the wall. A slab poured level with the floor inside so the threshold holds nothing back.

From the sky: a roof edge or a window flashing that sends water behind the stucco, which shows up inside as a stain two rooms away from the leak. From the street, on the coast: a tide or a storm surge that climbs the driveway and finds the lowest door. Each path has its own fix, and the walk finds which ones your house has.

Grade away from the house. The ground along the foundation re-sloped so water runs off, not in. The simplest fix and often the one that matters most.

Carry the roof water past the foundation. Downspout extensions, splash blocks or buried lines that put the roof's water where it drains, instead of at the footing.

Drains that drain. Area drains and French drains, trenched and graveled, that collect the water and carry it to a lawful discharge point. Where the lot has nowhere to send it, a sump pump with a dry well or a pumped line, its circuit run by a licensed electrician named in the agreement.

Waterproof where the ground meets the wall. For a below-grade wall, excavation, a waterproofing membrane and a drainage mat, with a footing drain, from the outside; where excavation is not possible, an interior system that collects and pumps. Planters pulled off the wall.

Thresholds and flashing. A step or a curb at a door the water reaches, flashing repaired where it sends water behind the wall, and the stucco or siding closed properly afterward.

Shutoffs you can find. Every owner should know the main water shutoff and the gas shutoff by sight. We label them during the walk.

The walk first, inside and out, with photographs and a look at where the last water went. Then the fix list in writing, in order, each item with what it changes and what it takes. You approve the scope and the agreement before work starts, with payment stages tied to milestones you can verify. Where the City requires a permit or sets where water may discharge, we read the rule for your lot before we dig. Where a fix needs a licensed plumber or electrician, the agreement names them before the work is sold. The first rain after the work is the test, and the fix list says what to look for.

The coastal and Westside cities first: Santa Monica, Venice, Marina del Rey, Playa del Rey, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach, then Mar Vista, Culver City, West LA, Torrance and the rest of Los Angeles County. Orange County is not a service area for this work.

Then the repair comes first, and it has its own page: water and mold damage restoration, with the first-24-hours list and the ten questions owners ask. While we rebuild the room, we walk the property for the path in, which is where this page begins. The full map of the house's risks is on the home resilience page, and the Home Resilience Assessment is the written report that orders all of it.