How do you stop water from going in to the basement?

Make sure you have gutters on the house and lead the water far enough away from the house. Make sure the ground around the house slopes away from the house. If you still get water in your basement it is caused by hydrostatic pressure. The water on the outside of the wall builds up until the hydrostatic pressure is great enough and the water then seeps through the block or enters where the floor and wall meet. This can be solved by using an above floor baseboard system to drain the water to a sump pump or drain. Waterproof.com has an above floor basement waterproofing system that you can install yourself for around $4 per foot.