# water water everywhere.



## Jmartin (Jul 18, 2021)

Been trying to solve our water problem ever since we moved into our house (about a year and a half ago). Crawlspace was a mess (mold on the joists from standing water, etc), garage would flood everytime it would rain (it is about 2 feet below grade and the back wall is the crawlspace wall). So far, we've treched the entire perimeter of the crawl with perforated pipe, put down crushed stone, put in a sump pump. We put in a french drain across the back of the house and I've gone around the inside perimeter of the garage and used waterproof sealant around all of the edges of the plastic "racetrack" water control baseboard that somoene had put in. Now, the garage is dry, crawlspace still has a river running through it during strong storms (but the sump eventually cleans it out). However, the only problem left is water pushing up from under the driveway (between the garage floor and driveway seam) and then runs across the driveway for days at a time after a hard rain. I was thinking of putting in a trench drain across the front of the garage to capture the water and divert it to the yard/ditch (and possibly put a performated pipe in there as well to capture any water coming up). Problem is this drain or cleanout thing is right where I'd be cutting the concrete. Have no idea what it is. Neighbor doesn't have one. Any thoughts?

I've attached a few other photos/videos.




Here is what I was thinking: red circle is where trench drain would be. Yellow highlight is where water is coming up. Blue arrows are slope (slight) of driveway.





And, here are a couple videos (crawlspace river) and the bubbling driveway.


http://imgur.com/a




http://imgur.com/NhQgT1i


Tired of a wet and mucky driveway for days after a rain...
Jared


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## bernstem (Jan 16, 2018)

You need to determine where the water is coming from. Is this surface water or is it groundwater coming from below the slab (it looks like water from below the slab)? Managing surface water is typically done with external grading and external french drains. Managing groundwater that is coming up from below is often done with an internal french drain and sump pumps around the perimeter of the basement/crawl space.

For this degree of water ingress, you might consider consulting with a professional.


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## bretts (Jul 29, 2020)

In that 4th picture, is your yard sloped back towards the house? It looks that way but I can't tell if it's just the angle.


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

? - WHERE is all this storm runoff COMING FROM?!!!!!

? - Am I correct in ASSuming your house backs up to a large hill or slope and the rain waters are flowing downhill, running up against and then down and also under your foundation and in addition to coming up into your crawlspace also out the front of your garage wall?

Wow. I am blown away by the amount of hydrostatic pressure evident in those video clips!

In the biz, approaching water intrusion from "inside" of the foundation (or "through" as the case appears to be at the front garage) the foundation is referred to as "Negative" approach whereas addressing hydrostatic pressure from "outside" the foundation (where the water is originating from) is referred to as the "Positive" side …

The only real success I've had in dealing with water around my own foundations has been to resist all suggestions of sump pumps, drain channels, frenches, etc. and do whatever was necessary to direct the water OUTSIDE the house AWAY from the foundation.

In my bachelor pad that was as easy a 12-pack to a guy with a bobcat who was grading a new construction homesite across the street to come over when he'd finished there and carve a big, wide, shallow "gully" and swale in a half circle "(" around the back of my house as it was built into a big hill (looking out my back windows you were looking up at a big hill) …

In our present house (also built into a hill) it involved a multi-pronged approach consisting of:

First adding downspouts and gutters and underground drain pipes (turns out architects don't like including downspouts in their concept drawings of homes and the builders often follow those concept drawings too closely);

Next, trenching uphill of our home and creating gullies to direct water laterally across and down the hillside instead of straight under our foundation; and,

Excavating and exposing the front foundation wall where we found a criminal absence of any sealing by the original homebuilder (whom we later discovered had had his GC license CONFISCATED by the NC Atty Gen'l!) BUT

- the big change was digging up a beautiful crimson maple up against the aforementioned front of the house and installing in its place a basin drain and underground drain pipe that prevents any water from collecting or standing up against (where it eventually under and then up, inside) our basement …

For the crawlspace, we did call in the pros (Tarheel Basements out of Boone, NC) but, only for re-encapsulation and a commercial grade large space dehumidifier (AprilAire 1850) after we got the crawlspace dried out once and for all. (They were quick to recommend sump pumps INSIDE the foundation anywhere water had been showing up inside the foundation but again, I'm only interested in doing whatever it takes to prevent water from getting into my foundation, NOT handling it after the fact)

I do realize there are instances where sumps etc are simply the only answer (I.e., a sister who lived in a townhouse although years later I was able to trace the origination of the water to the grading under the concrete slab that comprised her front porch - once we took that up, regraded the soil underneath and re-poured the pad SLOPED AWAY from the building front her sump never ran again!)

I guess my real question focus is, what can be done outside the home, to direct those amounts of rain water away from the foundation?

Pic of backside of house would help?


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