# Water in crawl space of small home



## y-townxj (Dec 10, 2010)

I recently bought, a 1200 square foot home, I pulled up the kitchen subfloor to repair some minor rot under the sink. I discoverd about 2 to 3 inchs of standing water under the kitchen, in the crawl space. So my question is what is my best soloution for this ? I would like to fix it before I reinstall the floor

1 One option I was considering was a sump pump

2 another was installing a french drain, or some type of underground irrigation system.

All responses are greatly appreciated, thanks


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## oldognewtrick (Dec 10, 2010)

If you can, post a pic of the area in the crawl space.


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## retiredhousemover (Dec 10, 2010)

what is the source of the water?


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## y-townxj (Dec 11, 2010)

I am pretty sure the source of the water is from the land around the house. The house appears to be in a low spot and when it rains the yard wil get very damp especially near the house.


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## itsreallyconc (Dec 12, 2010)

*can't cost much to dig a diversion trench around the home, can it ?  then you'll know !*


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## joecaption (Jan 9, 2011)

If the grade under the house is lower then the outside grade then it's always going to be trouble.
A list of things to fix this problum.
Back fill with fill dirt until it's higher then outside grade, cover with 6 mil. black plactic held in place with 16" insulation hangers bent in half.
Add gutters with down spout leading away from the house, whenever possible when building something new and there's a grade we run the lines under groud to day light.
Add a french drain at the same time coat the foundation with foundation sealer.
Make sure to never have mulch piled up againt the house or a perminit flower box with no way for water to leak out of it. Even landscape timbers will make a pond for water to sit in.


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## cline (Mar 24, 2011)

Probably best to fill the crawl space with dirt to above ground level and also install drainage as far away as possible to stop water from standing outside the foundation wall. There are good diagrams and images at this waterproofing information (no affiliation). I did my own system outside and it works very well.


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## itsreallyconc (Mar 24, 2011)

*are you serious - fill the crawl space with dirt ' ? ? ? that won't stop any infiltrating water,,, in 38yrs, i never heard of any pro ( waterproofer OR engineer ) recommend that method !*


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## cline (Mar 24, 2011)

Water will pour into the lowest section it can find. It will entirely prevent the water from settling there. If the dirt in the crawl space is higher than the outside soil level you will not take on ANY water. It is the perfect fix.

Regarding the outside you should also have drainage as far away as possible from the house (this is not to stop water in the crawl, the above will fix that, it is to keep water away from your foundation and yard entirely.

No ADS. Use PVC with mud guard on the pipe and surround it with a foot of gravel.


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## itsreallyconc (Mar 24, 2011)

*yes, it will,,, obviously you understand water runs downhill, takes the path of least resistance, seeks its own level, & rushes to fill a void ( if you don't believe that last part, try making a hole in a sink full of water ),,, in theory, there's no difference between theory & practice but, OFTEN, in practice there is.

in other words, loose fill soil won't resist **** - when you figure out how to compact the crawl space fill, perhaps you'll be kind enough to share it w/the rest of us  

ps - this is the same reason wtr runs down the exterior walls of basements ( because the builder didn't properly compact the backfill ! )

pps - we use both hdpe ( ads brand ) & s & d pvc depending on the circumstances*


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## cline (Mar 24, 2011)

itsreallyconc said:


> *
> in other words, loose fill soil won't resist **** - when you figure out how to compact the crawl space fill, perhaps you'll be kind enough to share it w/the rest of us  :welcome*



Your right, compacting is difficult it needs to be done as the dirt goes in in stages. Tamping and crawling around on it and tamping on it with multiple people.


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## itsreallyconc (Mar 26, 2011)

*' difficult ' is simplistic,,, to achieve proper soil density requires MECHANICAL compaction,,, machinery !  imn-s-hfo, you haven't personally done this work OR had to guarantee results,,, think of that loose fill as a sponge !*


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## joecaption (Mar 26, 2011)

I've been working on houses since 1973 and have yet see anyone conpact the soil when back filling.
I now live in an area where the water table can be as high as a ft. below ground. Almost no one has a basment. If someone does not back fill inside the foundation and it's lower then the outside grade I'll bet it will be fill of water in no time. We have to go back and backfill them all the time because of standing water under the house. A home inspector will not even pass a home like that here.
Most often we have to add gutters, regrade outside of the foundation and back will with what we call drive way dirt, then cover it with 6 mil. plastic.


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