The other photos did not get loaded, here they are :

Whatever builder let you do that garage... Gah.

You're going to need a landscape architect on site.

Lindsey, this was the idea of the architect and I sadly went along, but no use crying over spilt milk: I need some good ideas to fix this :)

It's a neat property. Just the garage is a bummer.

I love the house, it is my home and this is a just something that needs to be tackled in a clever way. I am sure there are some experts here and I can get some guidance :)

Then I will go and find someone who can do the job :)

How long ago was this built? Have you contacted the architect of record since the issues started?

You don't want to NEED to go outside to come back in.

Think ... split level waiting to happen.

What is the room above the roof over the garage entrance? Would it be practical to add an entrance to it?

If that is a living room, you could build a two story "entrance" room in front of where the garage is now located -- one with a forward facing gable. You could build the porch floor level of the new room BETWEEN the upstairs and your new tv room. That way you could have a couple of steps (and/or ramp) to walk UP (above flood level) to the porch and your new back entrance. Then, once inside that new entrance, you could have steps go both up into the house and down into the new tv room in the basement.

Then rip up all the pavement and most of the stone wall that is not beneath that new addition and slope your back yard away from the house.

These steps both up and down in the addition built over and in front of the entrance to the garage.

https://www.thehousedesigners.com/plan/golden-moon-9542/

It occurred to me, do you plan to store a snowblower, lawnmower, canoe in the garage? If so, you might prefer a ramp to get those things out rather than stairs.

Applause for your efforts to rescue cats.

I do hope you are able to get the waterproofing you need done without a major renno ... but ... have you at least checked on the price of getting someone to change rip up the concrete part of the back driveway and slope the dirt away from the house? (do) It may well cost a lot but you don't know til you ask. I'd hate for you to invest a lot in rebuilding the basement only to find out the waterproofing didn't work.

Good luck on your project.

“This garage will be repurposed as a TV room for me and catroom ( 7 cats, two dogs) for my rescues....to leave the rest of the house intact and let them [cats] sleep inside on cold winter nights.”

From one animal lover to another: THANK YOU!!

Like your entrance.

Cute pooch.

It occurs to me that if you made the existing roof over the entrance to the garage a forward facing gable -- doesn't even need to be a high pitch; just needs to be sloped to move the water to the side rather than onto the driveway -- then you could put gutter on each side. Then, with the roof line ending at near ground level, you'd only need the joint rather than an actual downspouts to drain the water from the gutter into pipes that could be hidden underground and move a lot more water a lot farther away from the garage entrance.

Also, don't mourn the attractive stone walls that extend beyond the roof over the garage entrance that will need to be moved in order to get the yard sloped away from the house in an effective way; instead, save the stone and use it later for another project: perhaps for your new steps or a sidewalk or even for a patio. (Look forward to seeing your posts on future projects to reuse your stone.)

Rather than building replacement retaining walls, save that money: consider creating a low grass covered, gently sloped scoop/ditch that can be mowed. Much less up front expense and easier to maintain. The only retaining wall that might need to be rebuilt would be by any pipe you need for your driveway to make the drainage scoop/ditch work.

https://www.landscape-design-advice.com/landscape-grading.html#.Wya0KeS0XIU

You probably don't need to add dirt -- just move what dirt you already have in your yard ... AFTER you turn the part of your concrete driveway beneath the protection of the roof into a porch.

With a saw and blade for cutting concrete, you can cut away all the concrete that is not protected beneath your roof -- a foot less than your porch (overhang) -- and then cut the concrete beyond your porch up into squares -- perhaps sized to be usable for building your new steps and/or a sidewalk.

Begin at the end of your concrete porch and slope the yard so the side of the yard with the driveway is higher than other the side of the yard, making sure the part of the yard below your porch is sloping away from your porch. That way water running off your porch roof will also flow away from your driveway.

Water flows downhill, to the lowest available spot. Guess what is downhill and the lowest available spot?

It’s not complicated. It’s simple. Your property has to be regarded entirely so that water flows away from the house for at least 10’ out from the house. Where that slope away from the house meets the slope towards the house, will be a swale, channeling water away.

Where that much water will go is also a problem. It cannot go further downhill and flood your neighbor. It has to be managed on your property.

None of that is remotely DIY. It involv s heavy machinery. Heavy machinery and erertion of forces around your home’s foundation. Done incorrectly, the house collapses. Be sure you’re insured. Be sure they’re insured.

That's not what I meant. That part of your paved driveway that is already beneath your roof would become a porch when you change your basement from a garage to a tv room … unless, of course, you intent to use it as a carport.

I just meant that you don't need the pavement beyond the roof for a porch, especially if, as it appears, your walled paved driveway is actually directing water toward the house.

What you need is every part of the yard in front of that porch to slope AWAY from the house. To do that, leaving the driveway and walls beyond the edge of the roof/new porch is simply not practical. At the very least, the concrete driveway and the stone on the lower side of the yard will need to be moved to create a yard that is sloped away from your new tv room.

If you add a standard door or French Door or a sliding glass patio door without building up the threshold and leave the driveway beyond the roof shedding water off the driveway in place and channeling water toward the door, your efforts to waterproof will fail. Water would just puddle up outside your new door and seep in.

http://picturesmo.com/editor/

Do be prepared to add grass seed and straw to the graded parts of the yard as soon as it is smoothed so rain will not create erosion.

As long as you are clear about the problem and what you want/need to be done, your landscape pro can probably walk you through all the steps that need to be done and may even agree to manage the different steps of the project until it's complete. At least ask and get a price estimate.

dear All,
please see some photos of my project on de-watering my basement room.
I have had the original slopy driveway filled up , so reduced by my than half the area where rain would gather and flow downward towards the basement.
I had stairs built instead of the slope, the water will not speed up, but stay on until it is really a lot.
There is a drain in front of the door - that will hold pretty much water- and also built a stair up to the door which gives an additional 17'cm should the drain fill up.
I had a few big storms, all worked well! Two things remain:

1. build the right side retaining wall, this is where water comes from in a bigger amount .
2. put something decorative on the top of the stairs. It look weird now, will appreciate some ideas how to make it look better. Am thinking of a pergola- like gate where I can grow some flowery plants, but am open to any suggestions.
   I have almost 10 meters from the main gate and will build a garage to the left from the entrance , so the driveway will not leave a lot of space, but we can be creative :)
   Thanks a lot in advance !
   
   

Hmmm..why not frame in the garage door area, fill the driveway (looks like you will have a new one judging by where the car is parked....seed, add some shrubbery, of course add a stair way from the garage up to the 1st floor should one not exist....this is

Once you turn the water via grading (Sophie is right), build your screened porch or sun porch over the former driveway and build/install (circular) steps to access your new family room from within that porch.

Your porch will take the place of the shed roof now over the garage entry but, hopefully, a bit larger. You should be able to reuse at least some of the framing from the shed roof for the porch floor.

Do let us know how you turned the water away from your new tv room and how your tv room turned out.

Until your budget will enable you to get some major grading done to your yard on the back/garage side of the house to turn that water (now running off that shed roof overhang and running down the driveway to the house when it rains) away from the house, add gutter to the shed roof (if it doesn't already have it - cannot tell) and build a solid block wall a couple of feet high all across the driveway just UNDERNEATH that shed roof to block any water that runs off the shed roof or runs down the driveway and keep it from getting into your home. You can add a step or two on both sides of that block wall to help you step over it.

Something to consider as you build your garage, position it so you can add a covered breezeway from house to your carport or garage -- helps on a rainy day -- and maybe you can later enclose it to be screened porch or sun porch.

dear Andrelaplume2, suezbell ,
thanks for your advice :).
Please look at photo no1, you can see there that tge driveway is already filled , as between the garden gate and garage door we have approx 10m slight slope sliding towards the street and on the rest ,approx 6m I co structed stairs.
This way the original slope of 16m (plus the street area ) which gathered rain is more than halfed, so the main issue is solved.
If you look at the stairs on the side of the terrasse there is still a need for a retaining wall of approz 50/60cm, as most water and soil comes in from there.
On the other side of the stairs the land slopes outward, so minimal / no water from there.

As the house has no rain pipes attached to the roof - impossible for a thached roof- I need to keep the small roof which is just above the old garage door, as the surface of the main roof is huge and I hv added the waterpipes on the small roof which takes it away to the left of the house towards the back where I have a pine tree.
I kept the canal / drain which is just outside my TV room door in case water still comes in from the stairs. I am putting a pump that will suck it out should there be too much water, but so far there was not enough water for the pump to be needed.

So, at the moment I am only looking at design elements for the top of the stairs, a trelis and probablt some short columns on the two sides for some lamps to indicate the entrance .

The new garage will be to the left from the house ( so not where you indicated the car, but on the other side ) , so the trelis cannot be too long towards the main gate, more just a design element to put some emphasis and greenary to the entrance / starting of the stairs .

The TV room / cat room has not progressed much, waiting for the painter to come. Will be posting photos as soon as I am ready :)

dear suezbell,
thank you.
The gutter you propose is there, now it is more than enough , with the pump it should be fine :)
The plan is to connect the new garage and the top of the stairs and the main entrance gate and the top of the stairs with the same type of pavement stone as my main terrasse, this is some 80m2, so will be quite a job, but only as the last step after the garrage is built.
If you hv some ideas to decorate the top of the stairs, will appreciate it.
This is the stone I will use on the stairs, retaining wall and new driveway from the street:

the current terrace

(Edited)

Klara:

Really nice terrace. Like your paver choice.

You'll enjoy your new / newly enhanced outdoor living area more if it is both attractive and low maintenance.

For decoration, you might consider short pillars made of the same stone as plant stands. Pillars could also be used for seating.

If there is an area where you don't want people or pets to walk down the embankment either for safety sake or to protect the lawn from traffic that could cause erosion, you could create two (or more) pillars with treated boards between them as seating to "block" that path -- directing traffic to your new steps with a pillar on each side and, perhaps, a metal bird bath on one and a sun dial on the other.

If the power goes out and the pump fails?

If you're still putting outdoor steps in, you could have the steps/walkway fork at curb or knee wall height. A curb or knee wall to block that water would be a worthwhile investment to protect your new room -- or two new rooms.

Another idea would be to enclose the area beneath that overhang and floor it a (waterproofed) step (or two) higher than the driveway to create a new downstairs entry -- large enough for a coat closet as well. You'd have a "sunken" living room downstairs -- step down from the new entry into the new family room.

Another budget friendly idea or two:

Consider making your new upstairs build (at least initially) a carport with a storage room on the far side of it and a covered breezeway between the parking space(s) and your home. You get the storage of the garage, shelter for your vehicle(s) -- at a lower cost so you may be able to shelter two vehicles) and shelter for you to walk from your vehicle(s) to your home -- without the expense of finishing the four side of a garage until your budget enables you to enclose it the way you want to do so

As long as you have another living room upstairs: Since the downstairs has plumbing, the downstairs room could become an efficiency apartment you rent to seniors so you can increase your budget for other things quicker..

Klara:

I edited my prior comment. Do please post more pics to keep us updated on your progress. I'm "living" vicariously here -- would love to have a large attractive patio and the option of a tv room separate from the living room. Alas, budget prohibits it for now.