"... to carry the water away to daylight in the front." Describe exactly where this is, and the path to it (distance, elevation, impediments, route, etc.) Better yet, show the whole path in a picture. It is best if you place the picture directly in the thread, as otherwise they have a way of becoming cumbersome to return to when someone want to have a subsequent look at a later time.

You aren’t fixing something that bad without a lot of dirt moved, and a lot of expense.

The front of my house goes downhill. I have schedule 40 PVC running into the back yard which I can tie into that runs to the street.

@GreenDesigns, any suggestions aside from doom and gloom?

I disagree that this is a major unsolvable problem. We had the same thing in our 1865 farmhouse and had water in the basement. We put down a sheet of plastic up the side of the house and on the ground and brought in fill dirt to add a slope away from the house that extended about 3 feet. We haven’t had water in the basement since (about 5 years ago).

@ Bri Bosh is the soil above your sill/foundation now?

It is certainly not an unsolvable problem but I'd respectfully suggest that laying a plastic sheet/tarp up againts the side of the house then piling soil on it is not an effective solution, both aesthetically and for long term efficacy.

If you realistically cannot change the grade next to the house (without using a plastic sheet!) then the alternative is a curtain drain along the foundation perimeter that will collect and direct water elsewhere. Pretty much your Option #1 :-) The "directing elsewhere" part is critical - ultimately, the water collected needs to connect to whatever existing drainage system is directing water off the property or directly to the storm run-off system that the municipality has in place.

In an older, established residential area, there must be some drainage professionals available locally who could help you with the design and installation, - if not the execution - of such a drain system and connecting it to an appropriate outflow. It is not an inexpensive undertaking but with a good design and some initial guidance, it is a very feasible DIY project that will save hugely on labor costs.

Depends on what the soil and drainage in the area is like, but a French drain (I.e. hole with gravel and possibly pipe, covered over with dirt and grass) sloped away from the house and down could do the trick. It all depends on whether the water is there just because of the grade towards the foundation and the foundation holding it, or if the drainage in the area has additional challenges.

The grade cannot slope away from the house as a feasible option. Do you not see any option I presented as viable?

Well, that 10' minimum is frequently fudged just about everywhere in the world.

OP, you have to go into much greater detail about grade, route, distance. Be very specific. You can't get any advice on this with loose guessing. A picture of the setup & drain route will save a lot of chatter.

Yes! You need a curtain drain as I suggested....essentially your option #1. I am not sure why one would think it not feasible or practical or something you wouldn't want to do. It is by far the most frequently utilized method of correcting drainage issues if the grade cannot be easily changed.

ETA: This is not an issue that can solved by any online discussion. You need someone local that is knowedgeable and experienced with drainage issues to look at the problem/property in person, assess the situation and to make suitable recommendations and a design specific to your existing conditions and needs. There are far too many variables and specifics that cannot be communicated successfully with a just a few photos and remote suggestions.

True, our solution was not a permanent one. However, it has stopped the water entry into our basement and the foundation damage that was occurring.

OP, one concern with building up the slope on your home is that the dirt will then have contact your siding which can be problematic. The advice of others including gardengal of implementing a drainage system is sound but if, like us, you were looking for a short term stop gap fix, I’m just sharing ours.

Nothing beats being there....
Those couple photos are just not enough to get the feel of the entire property...to find your best option.
Obviously something needs to be done sooner than later or termites and mold will be your next battle.
We just raised a little cottage for the same reasons.......

These pics might shed more light on the situation as a whole.

This is the yard:

This is an aerial diagram of what is going on:

When I redid my driveway I had the schedule 40 go into the yard so I could tap into it in the future. Which is now.

You will have to do some excavation and install a good french drain system along the house and divert the water to the dry-well.

Also I can do your property grade evaluation of your property and make a video, it will indicate your grade and property drainage this way you will know all the low-spots on your property and which direction your water runs-off and you can show that to a contractor. (I can only do that if you haven't done any grade alterations on your property in the last 3 years)

If you interested doing something like this please leave me your email on my profile page and I will reply.

Why run water to a dry-well if there is a lower elevation? Dre-wells fill up in large storms.

Always better to run to daylight where possible.....

Is there a lower elevation?

I missed the top view picture. You can trench it to the front and also tie all all your gutters in and if there is a storm sewer you can tie into that.

In the past we use to bring it out to the curb and have water discharge into a roadway... But a while back they stopped allowing that because if you dealing with a 4 season weather, that would create ice in the street, so everything must be tied into a dry-well or the storm sewer.

In spite of being asked multiple times, OP, you're not showing eye-level pictures of the path for water's escape. Since the lowest elevation seems to be the street, you should show a view from the street of the overall front yard. And add a picture that gives some idea of the slope (shooting across the grade.)

The side view image has me thinking this may be no more than a general grading problem, accomplishable IF the street is low enough. I would not create a drainage configuration that has a finite capacity (dry well) or use drain structures if the problem could easily be solved by surface grading, which does not fail in storms.

Does the original first course of siding run that low to the ground (ie it needs to be that low for some reason), or was this someone's idea to just cover up an unsightly foundation? If the second, why not remove that lowest course or two? Then you could both install a French foundation drain, and amend the slope immediately next to the foundation. Then paint any remaining visible foundation to match the siding if you must.

French drains are common and effective in my neighborhood, as it was built on reclaimed wetland and the water table is high with clay soil that drains slowly. Both next to the foundation, and out in the yards. My neighbor actually has a sump pump installed in his back yard because it turns into a shallow lake, complete with ducks, after a heavy downpour.

Unfortunately the siding there is covering sheathing. The foundation is actually that low.

Yikes. You don't want dirt up anywhere close to the wood because of potential rot and termites.

I like the linear drain idea too - perf pipe in gravel to collect the water and tie it into your PVC. You could even put a drain inlet or ten right next to the foundation to tie in. If you directed at least some of your downspouts into that pipe system, that may elimnate the water pooling as in your first pic, all by itself.

Thanks. Downspouts already piped to street.

What happens around your air conditioning condensing unit? Does it flood as much there as it does on the other end?

No it isnt as bad there around the AC

Your yard is not level as stated above but your foundation is. Look at the water line on the block...that's level.
If your looking for some improvement I think I would yank the boxwoods and anything else along that wall and get some road base and a hand tamper and improve on that condition. Water is the enemy. It doesn't take a total sliding board effect built up to your siding to improve the condition.
Imagine filling in the area or slightly less where you see water standing , yet raised going to the water mark along the wall enough to shed water away from the house.
A few feet off the house you may need to encourage the ground by knocking down some high spot or cut a slight path to help.
Something is better than nothing.

It seems like some of this thread disappeared. Where I left of was wanting a photo of the whole front yard, taken from the street, from not too far back ... so it would probably need to be taken as a couple of slightly overlapping photos. That's going to be the best way to analyze the situation and convey information back to you, dsjnj.