Rain runoff near basement wall

[canooten]

This may be a stupid question, but I'm just trying to make myself feel better......

I had a flooding incident 2 summers ago when some hurricane leftovers blew over our area. The storm probably dumped 4 or 5 inches of rain within a few hours, and like a dummy, I had forgotten to connect drainage pipes to my gutters, so all of the runoff from the roof was running directly against the foundation. Needless to say, it found it's way inside. Most likely it came in through a small hole I made in the foundation running a power cable outside to an outbuilding I put up the year before. I sealed it back as best I could, but......

Since then I've had no problems, but I'm much more aware of how close rain runoff is to the foundation walls when we have a major rainfall.
The grade of my lot has the front yard draining down that same side of the house (the runoff usually stays at least 3 feet from the foundation). Should I be concerned about a repeat flood? Granted it's been fine for the last 2 years (and 4 years before that), but since the one time it leaked, I've finished the basement, so I have more at stake.

Here (http://www.vicnmic.com/images/sketch.jpg) is a quick sketch of the way the runoff flows.

[giddonah]

If it's flooded before, count on it to flood again. I'd even be concerned about flooding if it's never been a problem but a possibility existed.

[canooten]

The reason I wonder is because the time it did flood, there was a gutter draining right up against the foundation. That's not the case now.

[giddonah]

can something get disconnected in a storm and get you back to the gutter draining right on the foundation again? How much work are you talking about? If this is all above grade, then why not seal it and sleep tight? If it's a little below grade, then how about a little workout (or a good lesson for a young'in in manual labor :wink: ).

Water is a fantastic force of destruction, even a little leak. I would want to seal things up "just in case". What are the odds it will go bad? Are you willing to play those odds with what you have invested in your finished basement?

[canooten]

I believe I've got the gutter problem fixed. It now drains about 10-15 feet from the house into the "normal" drain path of the rest of the yard.

As for the breach in the foundation wall....It's about 18-24" below grade. We're talking about a small opening with a piece of underground electrical cable running through it. What would be the best way to seal around that?