Did You know that many have water come into their home from the outside?
It is important to pay attention to the height of the soil grade outside your house. General code recommends that the dirt (soil grade) height be from 4 to 6 inches below the weep screed of the stucco (which roughly corresponds to the top of your foundations). The weep screed is this metal at the bottom of your stucco allowing water to drip down. If you don’t have stucco then this would normally be the bottom edge of the wood siding above the dirt.
The reason has to do with helping to prevent water intrusion into your home. If the dirt level (soil grade) is too high, say about the same level as the top of your foundation then when rain comes, or sprinklers are used regularly this allows easy water penetration into your home without you being aware of it.
When this happens then the wood sill plate (which is the horizontal 2×4 on the concrete foundation) gets wet then the drywall inside your home can get wet along with any flooring that is present. This can often happen slowly over a period of time growing mold and causing water damage to the home without it being readily noticed for a while.
In extreme cases during heavy rain the water can come straight into your home like a slow flood.
So by keeping your soil grade well below the top of the house foundation the safer your home will be from this type of water intrusion and water damage and, of course, mold growth.