It’s important to keep the area within 4-6 feet of the home sloped away from the home to shed water away from the exterior envelope. In this video, taken at a recent Orcas Island home inspection, I document a concrete walkway that has settled and is sloping towards the home. After I went into the crawl space at the conclusion of the inspection, I did indeed note water intrusion and the sloped concrete walkways are a likely contributing factor. Water is the enemy! Do everything you can to keep water away from your home.