Rainwater Collection

[Nyboy]

Why do you have so much water under house? I get water in my crawl space from a vent. My big fear is not the water but mold it can cause.

 

[Nyboy]

ideas for totes http://newyork.craigslist.org/wch/grd/5508893350.html

 

[ninnymary]

Do all of the totes come with that metal cage?

Mary

 

[Devonviolet]

Do all of the totes come with that metal cage?

Mary

Yes, it's a package deal.

 

[Devonviolet]

Why do you have so much water under house? I get water in my crawl space from a vent. My big fear is not the water but mold it can cause.

Our house is on a footer - perimeter & down the middle. The man we bought it from dug the crawl space into the clay to allow room to move around.

The house was built at the bottom of a hill, in the middle of a 7 year drought here in East Texas. Our soil is 6-8" of Sandy Loam on top of (who knows how many feet) clay.

We knew it was damp, under the house (after a rainy Spring last year) but didn't know we had standing water until DH went to go down in the crawl space the first week of January. We are putting a kitchen island in, with electric & an additional sink. DH was going to go under the house to find plumbing & electric, so he could bring it through the floor. I heard the trap door slam & he came in the kitchen saying, "Well, that takes care of that! The crawl space is full of water!"

At that time it had about 6" of water. It took us about a week to get over the overwhelming frustration & not knowing how to deal with it. The water went down to 3", but we knew we needed to get it all out. So, we bought a small pump, which wasn't powerful enough to do the job fast enough. So we went to the hardware store & bought a 1/3HP, cast iron pump with a float. He drilled a hole in the outside wall, so he could run a hose into the grass, towards the roadside ditch.

Before the standing water was all gone, DH went down & dug a trench from the high end of the crawlspace, to a 12" sump at the low end, near the hatch in the closet. What a muddy mess!

Then we got 5-1/2" of rain in one day, and when we looked into the crawlspace, we had about 12" of water! So, DH hooked the hose (which was already through the hole to the outside) & dropped the new pump into the water. WOOHOO! As soon as we plugged it into the wall , it started pumping water!

By the next day the water had all been pumped out onto the grass near the road. So, DH went down in the crawlspace, dug the sump deeper & installed a 5 gallon bucket, that we put holes in & put screen around, to keep debris out.

At first We thought it might be a foundation issue, but then, I realized that it is likely water moving along the surface of the clay. Since the previous owner dug out the clay, he essentially dug a swimming pool in the clay, which only allows minimal seepage of water. We have since talked with a USDA engineer, who agreed with my theory that the water (from rainwater) running down the hill toward our foundation & then moving along the surface, of the clay, under the foundation.

We are worried about mold too! Apparently the previous owner knew it got damp down there, because he put 2 vents on the front & back walls (a total of 4 vents) plus a small fan.

Unfortunately, the fan no longer works & DH thinks it needs more like 10 vents. We have a 24" round industrial fan, that he is going to put where the broken fan is. We are doing to make a funnel type enclosure, around the fan, to force air into the crawlspace & out the vents on the other side. Hopefully that will dry things out quickly after the water goes away.

 

[Carol Dee]

Our house is on a footer - perimeter & down the middle. The man we bought it from dug the crawl space into the clay to allow room to move around.

The house was built at the bottom of a hill, in the middle of a 7 year drought here in East Texas. Our soil is 6-8" of Sandy Liam on top of (who knows how many feet) clay.

We knew it was damp, under the house (after a rainy Spring last year) but didn't know we had standing water until DH went to go down in the crawl space the first week of January. We are putting a kitchen island in, with electric & an additional sink. DH was going to go under the house to find plumbing & electric, so he could bring it through the floor. I heard the trap door slam & he came in the kitchen saying, "Well, that takes care of that! The crawl space is full of water!"

At that time it had about 6" of water. It took us about a week to get over the overwhelming frustration & not knowing how to deal with it. The water went down to 3", but we knew we needed to get it all out. So, we bought a small pump, which wasn't powerful enough to do the job fast enough. So we went to the hardware store & bought a 1/3HP, cast iron pump with a float. He drilled a hole in the outside wall, so he could run a hose into the grass, towards the roadside ditch.

Before the standing water was all gone, DH went down & dug a trench from the high end of the crawlspace, to a 12" sump at the low end, near the hatch in the closet. What a muddy mess!

View attachment 12484

Then we got 5-1/2" of rain in one day, and when we looked into the crawlspace, we had about 12" of water! So, DH hooked the hose (which was already through the hole to the outside) & dropped the new pump into the water. WOOHOO! As soon as we plugged it into the wall , it started pumping water!

By the next day the water had all been pumped out onto the grass near the road. So, DH went down in the crawlspace, dug the sump deeper & installed a 5 gallon bucket, that we put holes in & put screen around, to keep debris out.

View attachment 12485 View attachment 12486

At first We thought it might be a foundation issue, but then, I realized that it is likely water moving along the surface of the clay. Since the previous owner dug out the clay, he essentially dug a swimming pool in the clay, which only allows minimal seepage of water. We have since talked with a USDA engineer, who agreed with my theory that the water (from rainwater) running down the hill toward our foundation & then moving along the surface, of the clay, under the foundation.

We are worried about mold too! Apparently the previous owner knew it got damp down there, because he put 2 vents on the front & back walls (a total of 4 vents) plus a small fan.

Unfortunately, the fan no longer works & DH thinks it needs more like 10 vents. We have a 24" round industrial fan, that he is going to put where the broken fan is. We are doing to make a funnel type enclosure, around the fan, to force air into the crawlspace & out the vents on the other side. Hopefully that quill dry things out quickly after the water goes away.

Sounds like a plan

 

[Nyboy]

wow can you go after seller for not disclosing problem?

 

[Carol Dee]

wow can you go after seller for not disclosing problem?

I will bet the previous owner lived with it and never thought of it as a problem.

 

[Devonviolet]

wow can you go after seller for not disclosing problem?

Not really. The house was built in the middle of a 7 year drought & he really had no way of knowing the crawlspace would flood like that. I would have put the house 200 feet further back on the property, knowing that flooding can occur.

Here's the deal . . . this man should not have built a house. He is legally 90% blind! He did have a blueprint & a code book, even though there are no codes out here in the country.

The basics were done pretty much properly. However, he made lots of mistakes, that a builder would not have made.

I won't list them all, but one major one is why we are remodeling a 4 year old kitchen.

I know the kitchen looks nice. But, that corner sink cabinet is 24 inches wide & goes out at a 45° angle on each side. He put a 32" sink in that 24" cabinet. The only way he could get it to fit is by setting it back too far. That means the leading edge of the sink is a full 8" further back than it should be. That means every time I use the sink my back hurts. After working in the kitchen for 1/2 hour, I am in pain!

There is no way to fix that without destroying the poorly done ceramic tile countertop, and a different sink cabinet needs to be used, because a 24" sink isn't big enough. I prefer white cabinets, so we are just going to redo the whole kitchen.

I could go on and on. But, this gives you an idea why we get frustrated. We try not to dwell on it though, and move ahead fixing what he did wrong.

 

[Nyboy]

All I wanted to do was change the flooring in my kitchen. It snowballed into a total gutted room. And I don't cook..