Hello. This is not a good situation, but I want to rectify the situation so that I don't have to deal with this anymore each spring.

I have a split level home with a crawl space under the living room/kitchen section of the home. The crawl space is approximately 3 feet in height.

Keep in mind that when we bough this house in 1991 we didn't now anything about homes and our parents were both renters so we were babes in the woods.

We get about 1.5" of standing water in our crawl space in spring. It comes through cracks in the floor which cameabout from pressure that builds up from the floor. The walls are poured and are fine.

The floor is a big problem. Got no sump pump, the crawl space is vented and the cement is about 1" poured over plastic !

I'm thinking about running a trench around the crawlspace that leads into a sump pump in one corner but i don't know if i need to worry about the sump pump freezing since this is a vented crawl space. I assume that i could even put it off in the winter and just run it in spring.

I'm just trying to do my best to rectify a bad situation so that when we put this home on the market the next owner won't have this issue.

Ideas from the experts ? I know this is not ideal, but i'm just trying to get out of a bad situation without putting mega bucks into fixing this issue for the next home owner of thishome.

Thanks for advice. Feel very lonely about this situation.

 

Some points to consider for water control under a house. Is the soil graded to lead water away from the house? Are the gutters clean and working and the downspouts directing the water away from the house? Is any runoff guided away from the house?

Finding the source of the water will be the most important step to take in resolving your dilemma. Implementing a solution from the outside will be more effective if the source of the water is from the outside.

Hope this helps.

 

I'll second Chris, make sure there's not some external source causing the water in you crawl space first; if there is, it's easier to stop it from coming in that go get it out once it's in there.

However, it sounds more like your problem is ground water. Your house is apparantly built above a very high water table. If that's the case, the system you propose is about all you can do for the problem.

I have a similar problem. I leave my pump in year round, and I've never had it freeze; you didn't say where you're from, so I don't know if your winters are any more harsh than mine here in Illinois.

I'd also recommend a dehumidifier to remove moisture from the air in the spring.