desperate need advice on water issue

[Cade]

My crawlspace is about 5' high with a gravel/dirt floor. There is a vapor barrier about 4 inches under the gravel/ground. I live in the poconos with rocky/clay soil. There is a gradual slope towards my house limitting me on what could be done because my septic tanks and sand mound are to the rear of the house/the same area that the ground slopes towards the house. My crawlspace would flood during heavey rains, water pouring through the block walls. The condensation was so bad that the insulation in the ceiling of the crawlspace was saturated and dripping. The joists/rim and plates were wet. The pipes were dripping wet etc. I waterproofed the walls, closed the vents and put in a dehumidifier. (the previous owners ran an electric heater , I can't afford to pay that electric bill). I dug a french drain on the back and one side of the house (thanks to the Kubota). The drain was about three feet wide and down to the footer. I put in 4" coorigated pipe and filled the trench with 2b stone. I have a swale about 40 feet from the back of the house to direct runoff away from the house and I also dug to additional ditches at the rear of my property line. All this and I still have a water issue. The water is coming from underneath because the water table is high....I have an artesian well and the water is coming out the top of the pipe so I know the table is high. It hasn't rained in about 5 days and my sump pumps are still kicking out water every 45 seconds....they are in a 5 gall bucket dug the height of the bucket into the ground. What else could/or should I do? I want to get this problem fixed! I am debating on digging around the remainder of the house, which would include ripping up my macadem driveway, to continue the french drain. I don't know if this would help though. DO you think that it would help if I dug a bigger sump pit, dug in 4'' corrigated pipe on the interior of the crawlspace and then concreted the floor?

 

[gordon21]

Your septic sysytem is higher than the house??

It sounds as though your problem is excessive water pressure within the ground itself. If the bottom of your crawlspace is actually below the top edge of the water table, then that will require you to drop the surface of the ground all around the house. You may need to slope away from the edge of the house and downward into a new swale at least 2' lower.

How much water do you use per day? If your drain field is close by and is dumping 300+gallons per day, that will be a big part of your problem. That water may be sheeting towards the house instead of soaking down into the ground. Is there a clay base under the drain field? If there is, it is acting like an impermeable layer and the water will migrate laterally just below the surface. Water can move sideways under ground if there is clay under it. the water could be going down only a foot or two and then moving sideways. One daily shower could be 30-50 gallons. A washer can use use 40+ gallons of water. 40 gallons of water is a LOT. That much water could easily saturate 3-4 cubic yards of dirt. Several showers, a dishwasher, etc could be enough water to saturate 40 cubic yards. That could be an area 15'x30' by almost 2.5' deep.

Most modern building codes require the drain field to be lower if possible and at least 75' from a house.

 

[Eagleview]

I had a simillar problem with my house site . We have clay 4' down with sand on top . The water migrates through the sand on top of the clay and leaches out at the house pad cutting . You will need to mark out a trench line and clear off the topsoil with a mud bucket on the excavator and then cut a trench in the clay with a 1' bucket up the slope from the house , your slope will determin how deep you need to go to get good fall . Cut the trench on a bit of an angle across the slope to make the water run in the desired direction . Fill the trench with 3/4 blue metal or simillar and some permiable cloth on top to stop the trench silting up which i find the corrogated pipe does even with the sock and then backfill . The water that runs on top of the clay will drop into the trench you've dug into the clay and will run away . Once its in the clay trench it can't leach through the clay walls and will take the easiest path , through the metal and away . As you can see my trench in the clay is filling with water as fast as i can dig it . (keep in mind where your septic absorbtion trench and any utilities are when planing this)

 

[Cade]

gordan and Iron horse,

I forgot to mention that I put foundation coating on the two sides of the house and then doubled plastic w/ a reinforced mesh which is for protecting the foundation wall during backfill.

Gordan21
are you saying that the swale should be 2' lower than the ground at the side of the house? The excess water from the faucets/showers and laudry run into the septect tank. The tank when full gets pumped to the sand mound which is about 50 yards to the rear of my house. At the base of the mound to the back of my house the ground is 2/1/2 to 3' higher. I am considering installing a drain field for the laundry line to the front of the house, which happens to be the lowest area of my property.

I do have a lower spot at the rear of the house that the water pools and eventually runs down the swale. This area is void of any grass and is mostly ground and a few trees. I am not sure if it an underground spring or what. I plan on taking out the trees, removing the rocks and digging a french drain from the middle of the property and also into the swale.

I know when we dug the ditch on the back of the house it was a mess. We had to hand dig it because of an overhead deck. We hand dug it at least 6times because the wall would crash in even after being shored. The clay ground was sticky like cement after a rain. The hydrostatic pressure of the water was amazing.

What I did made a significant difference, however more improvement is needed. I noticed that the plates are damp in a few spots, the joists are dry and the outer rim joist on one side is also damp. The interior walls had condensation on them. The block walls were holding water inside them so I had holes drilled into them at the footer line. The water drained out and I hope that will help to prevent the condensation on the walls and the plates from being wet. It doesn't help that it is too cold for the dehumidifier to run.

The way my property slop is does not lend itself to pitching the ground away from the house on the rear of the house. I guess it doesn't help that drainage ditches do not exsist in the area.

 

[Eagleview]

Have a look at the photo i supplied in the last post . If a trench like this wont take the water away your house is sitting on a geyser . Remember you can create your own fall by digging from shallow to deep .

 

[Cade]

yeah, I was checking them out. I want your excavator, enduro, and the stump/root ripper. I can't get over all that sand!

 

[Eagleview]

Yeah , this is the source of all that sand . A 300' sandstone escarpment out the backdoor of the pole frame house i built . The sandstone has eroded over the millenia and deposited the sand down the slope . You can imagine the water troubles i had to manage . But the upside is , we do'nt have any neighbours . I just had a thought , if you install another septic tank at the end of the new trench to catch the water you could pump or syphon the water from the tank and away .

 

[davitk]

The block walls were holding water inside them so I had holes drilled into them at the footer line. The water drained out and I hope that will help to prevent the condensation on the walls and the plates from being wet. It doesn't help that it is too cold for the dehumidifier to run.

As part of your solution, seal the top of those blocks with styrofoam, that will remove a source of moisture and make a big difference in the dampness.

 

[Cade]

Iron Horse, nice pic. It is hard to tell in the pic, but it looks like a nice wall/cliff. How far is that from your building?

davitk,
That is a great idea! I will try the blow in insulation like GREAT STUFF for the block.I was going to fill the block w/cement but your idea is better. I was going to get the blow on insulation for the walls and I am sure that the insulation is water resistant and mold/mildew resistant. Now, how about the water coming from underground?

 

[davitk]

I have the same problem; was hoping you could tell me