How to fix lateral moisture on external wall?

[Samnet]

Hi all,

Moved to a house with  lateral moisture issue on an external wall.( It was in the building report)

As you can see the water drain goes to the soil behind the wall and not sure how far I should dig up to see if it's connected to the main drain pipe or is just left like that.

 

  

aslo notice it's all like sand behind the wall not soil which I guess coming from the rocks

Also, there is like metal plate attached to the wall which I guess was supposed to stop moisture to penetrate 

 now I'm seeking your advice to how to deal with this issue. Should I remove all soil/sand behind thw wall and dig down to see where the drain goes? Or any other advice would be appreciated 

Thanks

Sam

[Samnet]

I dug down and found this

Is it pipe?

 also there are roots and dirts behind the metal plate 

[EricL]

Hello @Samnet 

Thanks for sharing your question about your wall's moisture problem. If you keep going odds are you'll eventually find the fault in the drain that's affecting your wall. Depending on the severity of the damage it might be necessary to engage the services of a licensed plumber. But you won't know until you see the damage. I think it would also be worth checking near the down pipe as the leak could be originating from that area. A quick give away would be the spot you're digging in will start to become damp as it is exposed to the water in the drain.

One way to save yourself all that digging is to engage the services of a leak detection service. They'll have cable cameras and thermal imaging devices that can pinpoint the source of the leak. Once it's been identified, it will just be a matter of repairing the leak and sealing the wall. By sealing the wall should any water flow back towards the wall it will not pass through the wall.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric