In a perfect situation you would want the french drain a little ways from the foundation with a slope down from the house. However, if because of the slope it's not feasible to move it away without creating an area that collects water between it and the foundation, you are better off putting it close in. When they dig down to put the drain in they can put a thick rubber membrane along the inside edge of the drainage ditch to keep the water from seeping under the house before it gets into the drain pipe.

This is called a foundation drain. There's another product called j-drain which is a flatish, mini egg-crate material with a non-woven fabric fornt and back. It is designed to go right up against the membrane and is supposed to handle more water than a 4" pipe, but either system is just supposed to handle the water that accumulates around your foundation under normal circumstances- with a 6" in 10' slope away from your house all the way around. This should have been done by the landscaper.

My big issue with this whole thing is that it sounds like this is not "normal circumstances". Some bad landscaping happened, and water was not diverted away from your house. You need to get a professional landscaper out to assess the situation.

Let me kind of start over. The house is built in the middle of a 3 acre lot that has a small incline. The guy that looked at the drainage problem did mention that the house should have been built on a 12-15 inch pad. There is a very small slope away from the house that allows a good bit of water to flow away but during heavy rains it's not doing its job. There's probably 12-15 feet of flat area behind the house before the hill starts. So let me follow up by saying would it be just as good for me to create a trench in the flat area or should I proceed with a french drain. I know this is kind of hard to judge without seeing it and I'm willing to have the french drain installed. I'm just kind of puzzled as to why you would put it right next to the foundation. I do have a more experienced person coming out later in the week to give a second opinion.

Thanks for the responses.

If you've got that much space, you should be able to establish the grade around your house to at least the minimum 6 in 10. The foundation drain should porbably go in as well, but surface water should not be going toward your house to begin with.