More than half of the homes that experience foundation issues will be due to poor exterior water mitigation causing excessive movement in the soil surrounding the foundation that create cracks and settlement issues. Proper exterior water mitigation is ensuring storm water has a designated run off, away from the foundation to minimize movement in the soil. The number one mistake in exterior water mitigation is most homes are built with the gutter downspouts dumping next the the foundation and is usually never extended later on by home owners. Gutter downspouts dumping next to a foundation can cause some serious damage, it allows rain water coming directly from the roof to soak in to the soil around the foundation causing the soil to expand and put hydrostatic pressure on the foundation walls. Constant hydrostatic pressure around the foundation walls will cause them to crack over time and allow water intrusion, this can snowball into the walls experiencing inward deflection and the foundation will require expensive structural repairs costing tens of thousands of dollars to stabilize the foundation walls from further inward deflection. Expanding soil is just the first hit a foundation will experience from excessive hydrostatic pressure, as the soil dries out, it will contract away from the foundation causing it to experience a drop in elevation that will require a completely different costly structural solution.
This is why the gutter downspouts should be trenched and buried away from the foundation with gutter downspout extensions to help control proper soil saturation around the foundation and prevent major foundation damages. Gutter downspouts are typically buried and extended away from the foundation using 4 inch solid corrugated pipe draining to light or a pop-up depending on the grade around the foundation. It is important to ensure a solid drain pipe is being used for the discharge, way too often you will see gutter downspouts are buried away from a home using a perforated drain pipe with manufactured holes and is intended for french drains or drain tile. The perforated drain pipe allows the rain water from the roof to leak out of the pipe near the foundation instead of the designated discharge area and defeats the purpose.
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Example of Gutter Downspout Extensions