My husband and I hired a fully licensed and insured contractor (whom we had checked out first and still talk with) to do an addition for us 2 years ago.

Our concern is with the 1st floor kitchen area which we extended out to the side an extra 2 1/2 feet wide x 15 feet long. This kitchen extension with underneath crawl space is abutting next to the outside wall of our below level basement and our 3 year old asphalt driveway is on the other side. Everything was done according to code and inspected and mason/cinderblock walls were used and a concrete floor was poured. The contractor's workers were not going to pour a concrete floor in the new abutting crawl space area until my husband and I said something. We were concerned when we saw water from rain collecting in the crawl space before the floor went on above it. A vent was placed at the one end of the addition crawl space. No water gets through this vent.

I am sorry to make this so long, but I could not leave out the details. Our concern is that before this kitchen addition with the underneath crawl space was done, a section of the basement wall that it is abutting would always get pretty wet when it rained and still does. It is also made from cinderblocks with mortar. We have a drain and sump pump in the basement also however we never get any water, except that one wall. Now since we did this addition with underneath crawl space next to this wet basement wall, we now see water dripping slowly down it from a higher point when it rains. We are hoping this crawl space addition next to this wall did not make things worse. The mortar between some of the blocks on this older wall was crumbling previously or had holes in some spots, as if it is being washed away slowly. We do not want it to get worse or have major problems later.

The question is do we repair this partially crumbled mortar between the block? If so, what do we use and who should do the repair? Our masonry guy, told us to just leave it alone. He says the wall needs to drain. Another mason told us to just patch it up and it will be fine. We are confused as to what to do. Who is telling the truth? Should we install a drainage system outside the addition where the driveway is? We called 3 waterproofing companies and they do not want to be bothered with our wet, partially crumbling wall. They were only interested to see if they can install a drain & pump inside, which we already had. We want to solve the wet wall problem and structurally repair it. Do we drylock it? This wall makes my laundryroom look ugly. Our gutters and leaders outside are all brand new and we have a dehumidifier on in that section of the basement. We believe it is underground water causing the problem. We do not live in a flood zone. We can't slope the property away from the side of the addition, as we tried to pitch the driveway away when we had it redone but it did not help. Thanks. Your help is greatly appreciated.