Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Nov 28, 2021 4:56 pm New to the forum and I am at wits end after building ineffective french drain today, plus no builder or plumber having a clue what to do. So let's try the Wisdom of the Crowd! We built half a dozen years ago, on a paddock, that sits on the top of the hill and gently slopes down. The house is built to look like an old house. It sits on stumps and has a concrete footing around the outside, on which sits a perimeter of bricks. Above that, weatherboard. There is limited crawl speace underneath. The ground is clay. Water pools against the brick footings along the east and western sides and especially the southern side. By the end of summer, the ground under bedroom 1 is still damp and there is still water pooled along the brickwork. I can say for sure, there is ample underfloor ventialtion. This weekend I dug and trench along this southern and western wall (along ensuite and playroom), the ground sloping towards the south so it was easy to get a fall. Sure, some water (about half a litre) pooled but nothing really changed inside. I can still see water pooled the entire length of the southern walls (ie along hallway 3, 2 study, living room). Things we have ruled out 1. It's not the water table or a spring. We built in winter, and dug some big holes for septic, the chimney etc and nothing filled with water. None of the footings did. The stumps which are set in concrete, sit below the soil level and do not get water in them. 2. Every pipe has been checked by professionals and mself getting under the crawl space looking for leaks, including waste water. The water is also seasonal - there's never any around the Living Room in summer for example. 3. its not water running towards the front (north) of the house although the ground does slightly slope this way. I have dug deep explarotory holes there and the soil is pretty dry. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ 1. Water run off the side of the building, pooling on the concrete footing which extends out a touch from the bichkwork, the water then seeping back in. Our gutters do leak clog up and spill over a fair bit too, we are rubbish at clearing them. 2. Garden beds mulched, leading to the above - the soil is wet. The beds are brick edged - do they trap water which then seeps back? (this would only count for the courtyard. 4. Water blowing into the air vents. Some vents are at grounds level - does water run into them during heavy rain? (basically lawns and landscaping should have been lower or the brickwork higher) We have checked most stormwater pipes and joins, and I have measured water in and water out volumes looking for a difference and therefore a possible subteranean leak but this would have to occur on most pipes, which is unlikely. So.....the million dollar question....has anyone else had something like this? I will take any suggestions too! At this point the goal is to extract the water because I'm not confident we will ever know the source (6 years of trying) - can we get some sort of drainage holes in the brickwork to let the water out? I figure we may never work out where it's getting in but if it can drain away, I don't care. One issue would be the ground inside dips to at least the concrete footings, thereby making holes in the bricks less effective as the water level isn't as high but in some places it would work. Re: Water pooling around footings 2Nov 30, 2021 8:33 pm First thing is to get a professional plumber to check your pipes for a leak. It looks to me that water maybe entering under your house from the front yard lawn area another possibility is the water tanks over flow long the side of the house. The water appearing along the back wall on the outside may be seeping up from the water ponding up against the rear wall on the inside under your floor. Re: Water pooling around footings 3May 16, 2022 9:50 am I've had water under my house for years and could never locate the source. Recently discovered drain dye. 1 teaspoon of the powder for 10 liters of water DO NOT GET THE POWDER ON SKIN! I then poured the colored water (you get a red dye and green dye) in a area outside the house and waited to see if it got under the house; it took about 5 minutes. Then another section with the other color dye. Finally I narrowed down to where it was getting in. Not where I thought it would be. The water traveled then found it's way under a concrete pathway through the aggregate under the concrete. A plastic water barrier and some drainage seems to have solved the problem by draining the water and the water barrier preventing access to under the aggregate. Finding out how and where the water is accessing is the first part of the problem. Water usually travels downhill, along the easiest route. Don't assume that water will take a logical path, it can meander. Test all around your house so that you can eliminate areas from being a problem. Need more photos from around the house including your gutters. We have had 3 of the wettest years in a row for some time so that wouldn't be helping 3 7126 Grab a hose, insert it at the top of the inlet/down pipe and turn the water on and see where the water is escaping from. Then you'll know. 3 8802 Thanks for the photos. You need to know whether the inflow or the overflow pipe is leaking and this is a simple process of elimination. INFLOW: The vertical riser… 4 4829 |