Water in the crawl space

[Rubyrose]

My daughter has just moved into a semi detached property built early 1900's. They have been restoring the original features of the property. In doing this they have had a new radiator fitted in the kitchen/dinner. The plumber went under the floorboards to connect the pipes and discovered that there was water in the crawl space. The plumber has checked all of the pipes and could find no leak. My daughter is now panicking that there is a major problem but we are unsure as to who do you call for this kind of problem? She has tried looking online but there seems to be no clear answers. I have tried looking and come across this page so wondering if anyone else has had this problem? Without having that radiator fitted they would have never have known about the water. Hoping someone can help. They are a young couple in their first house, learning as they go. Thanks.

 

[Cubist]

Hi There,
Assuming that no leaks are found from the domestic water and heating systems the problem your daughter is seeing results directly from the heavy and consistent rainfall we all have, and continue to, suffer. This is leading to rises in groundwater levels in many places which is becoming more evident to homeowners and particularly those standing lowlands as local drainage systems struggle with the volumes. As a rule this is nothing to be concerned about and these levels will reduce.

A good place to start for local information and perhaps help and advice would be your daughters Local Environmental Services Department at the councils offices. They at least should be able to offer some pointers. In the meantime your daughter should be encouraged not to panic but to keep an eye on the local weather conditions. Hopefully, we will all see an improvement soon.

 

[Rubyrose]

Hi There,
Assuming that no leaks are found from the domestic water and heating systems the problem your daughter is seeing results directly from the heavy and consistent rainfall we all have, and continue to, suffer. This is leading to rises in groundwater levels in many places which is becoming more evident to homeowners and particularly those standing lowlands as local drainage systems struggle with the volumes. As a rule this is nothing to be concerned about and these levels will reduce.

A good place to start for local information and perhaps help and advice would be your daughters Local Environmental Services Department at the councils offices. They at least should be able to offer some pointers. In the meantime your daughter should be encouraged not to panic but to keep an eye on the local weather conditions. Hopefully, we will all see an improvement soon.

Thankyou. I did find something about the water table and old houses and did wonder if this maybe the problem. She has also discovered that next doors rain water is going through their guttering and the guttering had broken and there is no ground drain for it to go into as the previous owner had is running into a water butt that had been overflowing for a long time with the house standing empty. I will pass this information onto her so she can make contact with environmental services and ask her to monitor when it rains heavily. They did pay for a more in depth survey but they have looked at this and it did not cover the drains. Thanks

 

[stuart45]

One of the reasons that it affects old houses is that they usually have much deeper crawl spaces. It's in effect a mini cellar. Which in an area with a high water table becomes a reverse swimming pool. Any modern house with a timber floor would normally have a concrete oversite higher than the external ground level, or a drainage system in place.
You can have the water tested, or dyes used in the drains to make sure it's only groundwater.