One thing I regret after moving into my new house was not getting a detailed list of drains installed in the property. I have lots of drainage issues and don't know if there is a drain there but inadequate for the amount of water we get, or just not installed at all.
A major lesson of home ownership is that it is a continual fight against water. Keeping water away from places you don't want it, and keeping water in and available in the areas you do want it.
This is absolutely true. I think half of the home renovation projects I've done in my life have been to either move water, or repair the damage from where water ended up where it shouldn't be. These are never the fun projects, but in terms of protecting your property, probably the most important ones.
Does the house have a sump pump? In our current house, which we bought with full knowledge of the issue, there was seepage and no sump pump, and we ended up having one installed (after negotiating down the sale price a bit after the inspection.) This involved jackhammering through the unfinished basement floor around the perimeter and installing a drainage pipe, then repouring that part of the floor w. inspection/cleaning ports into the pipe, along with a sump and pump in one corner. Works like a charm now.
There had been a drainage pipe but it was not working properly, probably being crushed or filled at some point by tree roots.
When I bought my house the previous homeowners legally had to declare whether or not there was a drain around the foundation. Very useful, it's the first thing we did and we never had any water breach the house.
Sorry, I should have clarified, I meant for drainage in the yard. We live in a development that's on a hill so 2 of our neighbors are on properties above us.
Yea, often these improvements are not well documented, you are right that it would have been easiest to ask the prior owners while they still owned it.
