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Water in crawl space!

5 years ago

Hi, I'm looking for some suggestions and/or advise regarding water in my crawl space. The house is new (just over 6 months old). We built the house on an existing lot. Our previous home burnt down and we had to start completely over again so the lot was cleared, scrapped, leveled etc. My understanding is the existing footings were removed and new ones were poured as we chose not to use the existing home plan. Now we keep getting A LOT of water in the crawl space. The last time I looked the water "puddle" was about 4 inches deep and about 8 feet long and about 2 feet wide. We never had this problem before. The builder has been out 3-4 times now and has dug out around the base of the house on the side of the crawl space door and every time there is a about 12 inches of water all at the base of the house. There is a tankless water heater on the same side which constantly drips water and the pipe from the air conditioner condenser is on the same side (I read they can put out 5 - 20 gallons of water a day). Each time the builder has come out he has put concrete at the base, a tar like coating at the base, this last time he plugged a 'hole' in the brick mortar. He tells me it's subterranean water coming up from the other footings and maybe it is, but what I want to know is 1) is this normal? 2) can it be fixed and what would you suggest? 3) is this the responsibility of the builder or the homeowner? Thanks so much.

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Comments (3)

PRO
GN Builders L.L.C
5 years ago
The builder should take care of that, a little concrete with tar will not solve this issue.

Install a sump pump before you start getting mold issues, etc.

If you don't have a good vent system, a mechanical fan should also be installed to have air circulation.

Good luck
Joan Smith
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you for your reply. I see that you are also a builder, I hope you don’t mine me asking you some builder related questions. We live in the northern part of SC so the ground is mostly red clay. As I said in my original post, our house was completely destroyed by a fire. We had the house torn down, lot scrapped and cleared. The builder is saying because we chose to build on the same lot the soil make up has changed, meaning the clay may not be as compacted. He says the water is coming in from under the ground from the original footings. The original footings were torn out and new ones were poured. While I can understand his logical what I’m struggling with is, I’m sure we are not the first family to build on an existing lot. Have you experienced anything similar to this? I do wonder if maybe the lot wasn’t graded correctly or if having the tankless water heater and air conditioner outlet pipes on the same side isn’t adding to the problem. That side of the house especially in that flower bed stays very wet (soaking wet). He wants to make sure “there isn’t anything from his build” that is causing the problem, which I appreciate. But even if it is the ground make up, shouldn’t he be expected to fix the problem....even if it requires a sump pump (I believe that will be the case), as the home is just over 6 months old? Also, what’s the potential for this standing water to do other damage...to footings, ground fall (I’m thinking moisture)? I can’t see to the other side of the crawl space, so I don’t know if the problem is on the other side as well. Thanks so much.
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I will check out the polyurethane kits from Emecole for the vertical crack. For the cavities left by the forming stakes I decided the hydraulic cement would not meet my requirements because I need a product that will flow and not set up so quickly. I called Quikrete and they think their Sand/Topping Mix combined with their Concrete Acrylic Fortifier is my best choice. Regarding the footing, I believe they are trench footings and what you see on the surface is just over pour. If I dug down a little lower I would probably find the footing, but it would not look very pretty. We have very heavy rains starting tomorrow that will last 5 days and I finally got the attention of the HOA management company and they installed a berm with leaders to carry the storm water away from the foundations. I also had them fix the downspout that was the main source of the storm water that infiltrated 4 properties. Hopefully we can get through this storm without flooding again. Thanks for your suggestions. Howard
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Once you landscape, you should solve most of your water problem. Adding exterior water proofing and drain tile around the entire foundation to exit on the down hill side will solve the rest of the intrusion into the crawl space.There really are no shortcuts in dealing with active water intrusion into a crawl/basement space. Preventing the water from entering is really the only sure way to maintain a dry space. As for the radon abatement, there are lots of solutions. Passive abatement is the least expensive long term. That means installing a grid of drain tiles(holes downward) and a stand pipe(extending to a height above the roof) under gravel. Then the plastic you mentioned and pour the concrete floor. The passive system is done without the concrete, with the plastic sheeting glued to the foundation walls and any pipes. Pouring a floor over it is fine., but the sealing is still very important, as concrete alone will not effectively seal against the gas. Which is forced from the earth naturally by pressure in the earth. Even though radon is heavier than air, the passive system does not allow the gas anywhere to go save into the piping and eventually up the stand pipe and out into the outside.
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PRO
GN Builders L.L.C
5 years ago
When dealing with clay soil and hydro static pressure, you have to install a good drainage around the foundation which is tied into a sump pump and use good quality fill to reduce hydro static pressure on the foundation wall. Something like this.

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