the house to channel the water away.

I don't know the particulars of your situation, but my parents have a cabin in the mountains that developed that problem (not a one time thing) where the water made a natural channel under the cabin that resulted in water seeping up through the cracks. They fought it with tar/flex steal stuff to try and seal to no avail. Ended up having to have a large trench dug uphill from the cabin and a french drain installed to funnel the water around the cabin. No problems since then (fingers crossed).