Is this good? Bad? Normal? Yeah, what's the goal of the experiment? What do you hope to learn from this? Not quite clear to me from your description. In real life water retention will be higher because in settled pots smaller particles sink to the bottom and raise the perched water table. Also, PWT will be higher still if you use a narrower containers in real life - water will be clinging to the walls to a higher or lower degree depending on the container material. This bucket looks pretty wide to me. If the goal is to saturate the soil, you may need to use more water than a gallon, use a watering can with a wide and gentle spray and to water twice (once a little, let it settle and diffuse, then water again to determine max water holding capacity). Finally, the experiment may show wrong results because the soil likely contains some water already before you start, and your retention weight will be underestimated. If the mix is totally dry, it is also likely hydrophobic, a lot or a little depending on the components, and then your water retention weight will also be underestimated because not all of it will be absorbed like it would be in real containers. So, be careful how you design the experiment. "Garbage in, garbage out", you know.

It is normal for water to pass through veneer brick and run down the back side of the brick to horizontal flashing where the water is forced to weep outward. Some brick allows more water to pass. Some cavities are not detailed properly and can allow water to enter the backup system. If you are only finding water at a basement door I would first assume that the flashing and weeps at the head of the door are not properly installed. The next assumption I would make is that the threshold of the door is not properly designed. If you want to take the extreme step of sealing the brick I recommend hiring a waterproofing specialist; it is definitely not a do-it-yourself task.

Hi Helene, Your back splash is beautiful. We are putting up one very similar, and I found this thread when I did a search on how to remove grout from porous tile. Many of the other things you wrote were very helpful as well. I have a question if you're still reading. We are using Chiaro tile (seems very similar to your travertine) and it is quite a bit thicker than the glass tile we are putting above it. Even with a pencil separating the two, it seems like we need to put a thicker backing on the wall to bring the glass tile more level with the Chiaro. We've put up Hariboard (1/4 inch), and are thinking we'll just double it where the glass tile is. Did you do something to raise up your glass tile and make it more level with the travertine, or not. I'm asking as the way you did it looks good, and I'd rather not raise it up if i don't have to. Thanks for any help. Karen

Good idea - here are several pictures, taken from right to left. Off camera to the right is a little slab with a shed on it that prevents me from laying a traditional french drain. So this is a little alcove of sorts that just happens to be situated in an area that slowly accumulates dirt over the years. The current problem is that doors in that area of the house stick (pretty badly) and walls flex enough to pop nails (etc). The entire area (in North Texas) is known to 'rock and roll' with the seasons, but the problematic areas I see are those in which soil has access to brick and mortar (i.e., is above the footer). These areas also seem to have longer-term structural damage in the brick. So I am attempting to make my doors work properly now and prevent longer term damage in the future by addressing the problem with a low-tech (i.e., inexpensive) solution. I do realize that I will need to keep dirt from accumulating again, but I think I can manage that. Note that under the drier vent there is a footer that rises up 2-3 inches above soil, but that just left of it you can see brick well below the excavated soil line. Right of the vent is a slab foundation addition to a pier and beam house, so the footer is higher in this area and marks where the new addition starts. I suspect this joint is causing some of the problems (as well as those perviously repaired cracks in the brick just below the window). Moving to the left, you see the problem continues. Moving further left, you'll notice that the soil is lower as we reach this corner. Rain fall carries soil away to the back of the house here, so it does not accumulate quite so egregiously. (By the way, I am aware that the soaker hose will exacerbate problems; it is not currently being used.) Just off camera to the left is a post oak (which are very vulnerable to construction damage) that provides excellent shade. I don't want to mess with it too much, thus this request for help! And here you see the other side of the corner, where the soil begins to dip below the footer once again. Hope this helps! Thanks again for looking. :)