What you're looking at in these pictures is evidence of overflowing gutters. Over time (or sometimes one really heavy rain) the soil against the foundation will get stripped away. Enough of this occurs and you may end up with water in your basement.
Here is a second indication of full gutters. You can see the muddy stains on the underside from spillover.
Sorry, I missed the before shots and got right down to business, so here are a few "during" and "after" pictures of the gutters.
The flush on this downspout will be ineffective as it was installed improperly. You can see the frozen drips on the outer edge of the lower piece (YES, we're out in the cold!)
This was a simple, but very needed repair. No extra materials needed- simply disassemble and reassemble the downspout properly.















