I have nothing to offer in this post. Instead, I'm asking for help.

My basement has started to have some water issues. Relatively minor, but we have a finished basement with some nice old wood paneling and we're afraid it's going to get ruined if we don't do something. A contractor came out and thought our problems were minor--a disconnected downspout sending water to the foundation, a too small gutter on one wall. We fixed the downspout issue, finding someone do re-do the one gutter has been more difficult. But the main problem seems to be where the disconnected downspout was, and the water's still coming, so now we're wondering if there's another problem there.

My wife is getting quotes from waterproofers, but the quotes are HUGE, like $5000 per wall. First off, I'm not keen on having my yard torn up. Second, my innate skepticism makes me question whether the waterproofers would give us a true assessment of the situation, or just see dollar signs ahead.

I know you can't see my basement, but if you have any experience with waterproofing, waterproofers, etc., how do you know when you need professional waterproofing? Do you ever need professional waterproofing? Or are there always other solutions?

Any advice would be much appreciated.