My house sits lower the street and water naturely flows thru my crawlspace to the back yard.?what is best fix?

Question

1400 square foot house. already have a weeping willow in back yard. water collecting under house. 6 feet of elevation change from steeet to house.

Answer 1

You need a "french drain" - and you don't need a contractor to put one in - this is very much a DYI project.

A french drain is gravel filled trench with a perforated drain pipe in the bottom.  In your case, you'd run the trench across the front of the house, around the side, and terminate it somewhere in your backyard.  Typically, the trench is about 6" wide (the drain pipe is 4" diameter), and 1-2 feet deep.  You can certainly dig the trench by hand, but with the length and depth you'll be digging, you might want to rent a "DitchWitch" (motorized trencher), which you can find at most any rental yard.

If you want to conserve rainwater, you could also dig a cistern to capture the runoff, and use it for watering when it's dry.

Google "French Drain", and you'll find pictures and detailed instructions (which is basically - dig trench, place pipe, fill with gravel).  Here's a good how-to -- http://landscaping.about.com/cs/lazyland...

Answer 2

It sounds like you need to have a retention wall built so that the water does not flow under your house.  In time this may damage your foundation causing your home to be unstable and unsafe.

Answer 3

Call your local Soil Conservation Agency and arrange for a time for them to come out and look at the situation.   They will survey the land and give you a detailed drawing on how to fix the problem.   They will also recommend local companies who can do the work.  The work that the Soil Conservation agency does is free.   Fixing the problem, you will have to flip the bill.

Answer 4

A contractor can put a drain around your house to divert the water around and out to the back yard.

Answer 5

You need to buy a sump pump, maybe 2. You also need to dig a ditch in your front yard to collect some of the water. If you have room, plant a small weeping willow in the front yard.

The house I just bought sat empty for a few years and the water collected in the crawlspace because the house is lower than the road..... I had to rip out most of the walls and floors because they got mold on them from all the water. (don't worry, I knew that when I bought it!). I bought 2 sump pumps (1,800 sq. foot house), rerouted the drain pipes, and just this week I am spending $2,500 to have my driveway sloped, a ditch dug, and extra dirt put up next to the house to raise it. It's expensive, but sometimes you have to spend the money to guarantee your house won't get ruined!! Once mold starts growing, it's a huge disaster!