Wow! Lots of rain this fall. I’ve been seeing lots of homes with everything from dampness to 3 ft. of water in their basements. IMHO, a lot of times this is fairly easy to correct. I can’t tell you how many times I see broken or poorly routed downspouts. Sometimes the water is just running down the side of the house! Also, some of the houses which have black pipe buried to route water away (which is good) have the black pipe cracked or disconnected (which is bad). Take a walk around your house…is the water fully routed down & away from your foundation? Is the flashing around chimneys, vents etc. maintained to avoid rain getting? Does your municipality keep their drains functioning properly and undammed? Too often the “basics” go overlooked.
If the home is on a heavy slope, or sits low in the landscape and/or on the north side of a hill, then water around the foundation is going to be much harder to control inexpensively. When the ground water wants to come in things get pricey. I know of a few good remediators who I can recommend to fix the issue. By installing exterior drains above the house on the slope, the water can be routed around the house (and the basement spaces). Also, excavating the foundation and applying water seal can reduce the transfer of moisture to the inside.
Dampness can wreck your house, causing parts to rust, corrode and degrade rapidly. Make an effort to control it now, rather that waiting for time when you have to spend more to fix all the problems it causes.