I just bought a house this past summer.

This fall some water came into the basement twice after two heavy storms.

The people who sold me the house put on the disclosure form, "Once after a heavy storm a small amount of water came into the basement."

I'm thinking that they may have seriously understated the problem.

I videotaped the water leakage the second time.

The first time a puddle formed on the floor, the second time it turned into a muddy little 1/2" deep river that crossed from one wall to the sump pump.

Is there anything I should be doing legally?  Register some kind of complaint?

Is there a time limit?

No water problems since then but if this basement water problem happens again I think i will want to sue these assholes for misrepresenting the problem.

FWIW the house is a nice 12 year old 4 bdrm in bucks county.

Thanks for any advice.

Your screwed, They told you about it.
We purchased a new house in 04'. some people had a contract on it before us but backed out because of so called flooding in th B-ment. I called BS but after a medium rain we had a little water seep in the back corners. A 5gallon bucket of waterproofer from Lowes(it's like rolling elmers glue on the walls)  a little irrrigation work, some landscaping now my neighbors down the hill  have the problem.

My state is a 'buyer beware' state as most are IIRC.  Did you have the house inspected by a licensed inspector prior to closing?  The inspector or inspection company may have some limited warranty on a system/structure of the house that was missed by him.  In my experience you don't have a case with the seller - their defense will be that it was disclosed.  Sorry.

Not that it's much consolation but buyers cursing the previous owners/builders of their houses is nothing new.

Quoted: I just bought a house this past summer. This fall some water came into the basement twice after two heavy storms. The people who sold me the house put on the disclosure form, "Once after a heavy storm a small amount of water came into the basement." I'm thinking that they may have seriously understated the problem. I videotaped the water leakage the second time. The first time a puddle formed on the floor, the second time it turned into a muddy little 1/2" deep river that crossed from one wall to the sump pump. Is there anything I should be doing legally?  Register some kind of complaint? Is there a time limit? No water problems since then but if this basement water problem happens again I think i will want to sue these assholes for misrepresenting the problem. FWIW the house is a nice 12 year old 4 bdrm in bucks county. Thanks for any advice.

They said minor leak, it has developed over time.  At this point all yours.

If the water came in the weekend of October 8th it is quite possible that the people only saw water once. We had like 8" of rain in a 24 hour period. I live in Central Bucks County, New Britain Twp. I did not get any water but there was some standing in the sump. I bought my house last summer as well. Do you have a "floating slab" in the basement?

I am a project manager of a construction company and a new boiler room in a school we are building flooded and caused $500,000 plus in damage...

Quoted: Your screwed, They told you about it. We purchased a new house in 04'. some people had a contract on it before us but backed out because of so called flooding in th B-ment. I called BS but after a medium rain we had a little water seep in the back corners. A 5gallon bucket of waterproofer from Lowes(it's like rolling elmers glue on the walls)  a little irrrigation work, some landscaping now my neighbors down the hill  have the problem.

tell me more my friend

the water problem I am having is

1. my backyard has a steep slope that levels out at my back porch.  the level part has been a swamp all winter.  one of the previous owners put in a drain  but it doesn't do much, water never seems to find it.

2.  water and mud came up thru the joint between basement wall and floor.  there is a wide crack full of gravel, (called french drain??).  the under slab drain pipe in the sump had a giant flow into the sump the second storm.  it was a huge storm.

i'm thinking that regrading the yard might help.

what exactly did you do?

Call the lawyer who did the closing for you and ask.

get a french drain and properly slope the yard

Most basement leaks have as much to do with landscaping as with everything else. If you have altered, or failed to maintain, the landscaping or drainage, you could be the cause.

Be sure that the landscaping uniformly slopes away from the house. It sounds like you might need some major landscaping to do that.

Make sure your gutters are effective and draining the water far from the house. That wet / muddy spot - it's uphill from your foundation? You need it to drain away from the house. Again, that might take some digging.

Interior sealing of the walls is always temporary. You need to prevent the water from piling up against the walls.

The joint you wrote of descibes a floating slab. It is safe to say that water is not supposed to come out of the joint but to roll under the slab to the sump pit.

It sounds like you have a grading issue. Contact a landscaping or excavating contractor for pricing or pick them for ideas and do it your self. The fix could be an easy one...