[Nov 6, 10:32]Rspaight I had that problem with my last house (but it was on a crawl space, so it wasn't as big a deal). You're on the right track -- drainage is everything in most cases.
Longer downspouts are good -- those flexible thingies are a great way to direct the flow away from the foundation.
And yes, you definitely want the gutters to work, as little fun as cleaning them is.
Finally, check out the ground around the foundation. Make sure any landscaping/gardening/whatever hasn't created a situation where the ground slopes toward the foundation. If so, get some topsoil and re-terraform.
The combination of those things solved my problem.
However, your description "literally coming through the floor" suggests that all the rain might have actually raised the water table to a level above your basement floor. A sump pump is about the only way to deal with that as far as I know, since all the drainage in the world won't help. I guess it depends on how often you get enough rain to cause the problem...
Ryan
[Nov 6, 22:38]Luke [e-mail] The thing is, the gutter helmets pretty much remove the need of cleaning the gutters. The only problem is when they get dirty - water doesn't "stick" to them the way it should, and it just drips to the ground.
And we *have* a sump pump, actually. It works, but it didn't seem to be doing all that much (the water in the well wasn't all that high, really).
[Nov 7, 08:12]Rspaight Well, that knocks out the rising water table theory.
[Nov 7, 13:01]Alandovos What is this "rain" you speak of?