Basement Windows Flooded & Filling with Water

Keri Harvey asks,

Recently bought a house and we have problems with the basement windows sills along the driveway filling with water when it rains. The previous owners sealed the glass brick windows pretty well, but still, some water slowly seeps in when it rains. We have pumps with automatic switches in each window to pump out any water that gets in. Our basement does not have a sump pump but has a drain. From what we can tell there’s no drainage in the windows. Not sure what we should do!

Our Answer

Keri,
This is a very common problem as is the attempted solution you’ve described. Unfortunately, it wont work. No matter how water tight we try and make basement windows, they’re not going to turn into fishbowls when the window wells fill up from the outside!
Even though you are not seeing visible water in your basement, you can be certain that too much water is collecting around those foundation walls, which can lead to a host of structural problems. The solution here is surprisingly simple, and detailed in my post about <a href="https://www.moneypit.com/flooding-dampness/basement-waterproofing-tips-0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fixing wet basements</a>. 
In short, you need to improve your roof and surface drainage conditions. Gutters must exist, be clean and properly sized, and most importantly, spots must discharge 4 to 6 feet from the house. Likewise, grading around the foundation perimeter must slope away from the house. 
As for your driveway, that’s a bit more complicated as you cannot easily change the pitch and I suspect from your description that it at least somewhat dips toward the house. Start with the gutter corrections I describe in the post and make sure the gutter discharge is not contributing to the problem. If they do drain in this area, take steps to reroute them so that doesn’t happen. Add window well covers, which will help reduce water that collects from direct rainfall. If all else fails, you can install a curtain drain in the driveway to try and intercept the runoff, or of course, replace the driveway with one that is properly sloped.