Water Standing in Crawlspace.....Help

[TNhobbyfarmer]

We have had a substantial amount of rain the last three days. I rarely go into or even look in my crawlspace. It happens that I had occasion to look yesterday. Standing water.....not good. I traced the leak to a block corner. It is leaking in the corner about a foot from the ground. Just a trickle but the standing water has built up over time. I've never had to try to fix a problem like this so maybe someone with experience can give me some advice. Do I have to wait for the leak to stop prior to putting on waterproofing material? I'm headed to Ace Hardware but thought I'd get some advice from you guys. Please give me your thoughts.

 

[brin]

A french drain around the outside of your house where the water is coming in...you can google that...then gravel and a vapor barrier on the ground under your house...you want to stop the water...to divert it before in gets under your house...

When you go to the hardware store you can buy a small sump pump that is activated by a float...should not cost more than $50.00 for the type I am talking about.....place that in the deepest water you have and let it work until you can dig out around your house and put in a French drain....Good Luck...

 

[3930dave]

Better waterproofing compounds can deal with some existing water (meaning the surface of a wall doesn't have to be completely dry). You can't apply them under water, but they will allow you to seal the wall sooner.

Depending how big the crack is, you may need to fill with mortar before attempting to seal it. Check for proper foundation support in that area - ie. is the water undermining that corner ?

My experience was that the most effective seal has to be done from the outside of the foundation. Digging needed, but at least you don't have a 10' high basement !

Rgds, D.

 

[MotorSeven]

Do you have gutters? If so pipe all water 20' away from the house and down hill away from the foundation. If not get the "gutter guy " out there and install them. Dave's right, the only real fix is digging out and waterproofing the outside of the wall, then a perimeter drain covered with gravel. I don't care for BlackJack tar so I used Platon on my basement walls:

Platon - Foundations - Foundations - CertainTeed

System Platon Foundation Waterproofing - YouTube

It goes up quick and easy. Unlike a sprayed or brushed coating it cannot leak(unless you tear it) and it is thick like ABS plastic...takes a lot of abuse.

I don't know about you but this EPIC rain must stop......we have had enough here to last the rest of the year.......

 

[3930dave]

M7 - I've seen the Platon in use, but never installed it myself.

I can see how it deals with water going down, but what about water going up ? As in high water table. Doesn't the water end up going under the bottom edge, and ends up against the wall ?

Or, do you need to pre-seal the wall ?

Good point about gutters. Lengths of Opipe on the bottom elbow work as fast extensions that are tough.

Rgds, D.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Is that leak a foot below or above the ground?

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

Is that leak a foot below or above the ground?

Above the ground in the crawl space; underground on the outside.

 

[MotorSeven]

If the water table is rising nothing will stop it but a sump pump will dry it out quicker. Most water issues are improper waterproofing of the walls and/or poor contouring of the dirt around the perimeter allowing water to run to the house rather than away from it. We got another 1.5 inches yesterday and about the same today:thumbdown:

 

[EddieWalker]

You said crawl space, so I'm thinking you have a pier and beam house. Water will always follow the path of least resistance, so if it's getting in, that is the easiest direction for it to travel. Since you said it's coming through the exterior block of your foundation, that means that the ground around that area is higher then under your house. You need to change this and have the ground slope down and away from your house. A wide ditch is always the best way to do this. Once done, it will never require any maintenance or repairs other then mowing if you have grass.

Piping and French drains always plug up. It's just a matter of time depending on your soil, amount of rain and the materials used.

I've never seen a pier and beam foundation that was water proof. I'm sure you could make it that way, but that would just be stopping one problem and still having another. Water and moisture next to the foundation is always a bad thing, especially if you have termites in the area. Depending on how much water is there, and how long it remains, it could lead to foundation failure, mold, mildew and even tree root damage.

Try to avoid over complicating the fix. Adding a pump would be the very last resort. Draining it from under the house doesn't address the problem of the water outside the house. Sealing the block also doesn't deal with the reason he water is there in the first place.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[Mickey_Fx]

I'm having a little trouble getting a clear understanding of the situation. You'll have to forgive me as being an eng I'm a little annual about the details.

Standing water, is this outside or inside of the foundation? Block corner? Leak about a ft from the ground?

My first thought was like Brin, a French drain. They work great if you are having problems with running underground water from runoff. Maybe a little spendy if we're talking occasional flooding from rain. Son had a French drain installed shortly after moving in to his place. He's near the bottom of a hill, soil is porous and we know how water runs, down hill. When the trench was open, you could see water poring out of the ground like miniature streams. Drain takes the water over to a cistern where it is then pumped out to the ditch at the road. When rain fall has been heavy, lasting for weeks/months through the winter, you can see upwards of 30 gal of water being pumped into the ditch ever min. Drain has been installed at least 10 yrs and never a problem and no more indoor swimming pool. In son's situation a vapor barrier was little to no help. Needed to stop the flow of underground water before it got under the house.

It might pay to get some professional help to evaluate what the source problem is and best way to address. You may have a bigger problem than a little leak from a crack in the foundation.