Dampness starting near top wall

As you can see in these 2 examples, the moisture starts at, or near the top of the basement wall.  The moisture is causing the paint to peel and efflorescence to occur in the mortar between the blocks.  This is typically an indication that something is happening at, or above, ground level that is causing the moisture to enter the wall at the top of the basement, and run down the wall through the hollow cavities in the concrete block.   Some contributing factors to a problem like this could be an overflowing gutter, a clogged downspout drain if there is one in the same area, or poor grading in this area.    

How do we fix it?

Our recommendation in a situation like this would be to check the gutters and snake out the downspouts to eliminate the simplest and least expensive possible solutions first.  If they dont improve the moisture levels, basement waterproofing in that section of the basement wall may be necessary.

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