Water Runoff Issues in Home

skipy89 on 15/05/2023 - 23:26
Last edited 15/05/2023 - 23:30

Currently have issues with water runoff in our new house. It's an old house, the previous owner concreted the whole front yard to assist with a disabled family member.
The issue with heavy rain, it go through the bricks near the front balcony and the under the house. The water then pools with the rain. The concrete driveway slops downwards and into the house.

Having been under the house and starting to clear old debris under the house it's too damp. It's only a matter of time before it effects the foundations and cracks will appear in the house.

Appreciate any thoughts or guidance in the best ways to go fix these issues.

https://imgur.com/a/lpkP7X7

Photos above. Some of the photos where before and after the rain.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Muzeeb on 16/05/2023 - 06:11
    -1

    Did the pre-purchase inspection highlight any issues?

    • skipy89 on 16/05/2023 - 07:05

      In regards to this issues more so the debris under the house.

      • Muzeeb on 16/05/2023 - 09:54
        +3

        Just to clarify I wasn't being smart (unusual I know). It was a genuine query and a starter for more relevant information from a professional.

        The house to me looks like it's previous owners lived there a long time and made many DIY modifications. They probably even built the second storey I'm guessing. Lord know what plumbing errors they made.

        I would get a professional out to assess what's going on, the rectification required and assess any existing damage.

        • skipy89 on 16/05/2023 - 12:04

          Yes we agree with many DIY modifications. He has done to property

  • Loot N Plunder on 16/05/2023 - 07:21

    Water only flows in one direction and if you cant slope it away from the house then you will have to install a pit with a pump under the house at the lowest point and some additional mechanical venting to dry it out quicker.

    • jv on 16/05/2023 - 13:55
      -2

      Water only flows in one direction

      Not if you live right on top of a hill…

  • AngoraFish on 16/05/2023 - 08:10
    +8

    The driveway slopes to the car port and there's a trench grate in the car port. This would normally be enough, you shouldn't be getting a lot of infiltration from surface runoff alone.

    Honestly, I can't see in what universe a bit of seepage through the bricks should be resulting in that amount of water under the house unless there's a broken pipe or something else is going on.

    I notice that the downpipe on the front wing penetrates through the brick rather than heading straight into the ground and away from the house. My gut feeling is that you've got a break somewhere in that pipe and that's where the flooding is coming from.

    Alternatively, the outfall from the trench grate at the front of the carport is broken or blocked somewhere and is discharging directly to beneath the house. The trench grate should be discharging to the same stormwater line as the white pvc downpipe off the front veranda. Pull the grate off and check which side the outfall pipe is located and try to see which direction it heads from there.

    So basically, trace back both of those two potential sources, and probably the white PVC downpipe as well, and make sure each one of those lines is rock solid.

    Get a plumber to look at it. They might be able to run a camera back up some of the pipes to make sure there are no breakages.

    Also check what's coming off your up hill neighbor's property and make sure they're not dumping water along your property boundary.

    If all else fails you might need to saw cut out a trench in front of the front veranda, put a slotted PVC pipe in the base of the trench tapped to the veranda roof downpipe, and backfill with 20mm rock but you'd want to investigate everything else first because that risks making the situation worse.

    • AngoraFish on 16/05/2023 - 09:17
      +4

      A closer look at at the PVC downpipe from the veranda and I now see it's discharging directly to the driveway, making it more important that you check what's happening with the grated trench. A lot of corner cutting is happening there, so it wouldn't surprise me if the trench isn't actually going anywhere useful at all.

      The trench itself is undersized, but probably not so much so that it's worth doing anything about - water doesn't appear to be topping over into the carport area, but you might have a capacity issue on the outfall.

      Basically, the solution there is to make sure that the grated trench has a proper, unblocked pipe running out of it to your stormwater system, most likely the nearest downpipe on the back of the house.

      You probably also want to add some flashing on the building side of the grated trench if it doesn't have a solid end on that side. Any water sitting in the trench due to issues with the outfall pipe or pipe capacity will leave water to infiltrate beneath the building in its own time.

      • thatonethere on 16/05/2023 - 09:44
        +1

        Yeah good spot. It's dumping water inbetween the concrete and the brickwork which goes under the house.

  • brendanm on 16/05/2023 - 08:26

    Wow, Imgur comment section is cringe.

  • thatonethere on 16/05/2023 - 09:34

    Note it can take years for a house to dry out underneath so consider adding some ventilation down there - but given you had full on puddles it's pretty bad (you need a pump almost). It will definitely impact the house.

    As others have said that is a LOT of water down there not just seepage. If it's raining during the day or it's not too scary to go under the house at night might be worth rushing down with a torch and a hard hat to see if any of the downpipe or storm water pipes are broken/cracked.

  • pharkurnell on 16/05/2023 - 10:00
    +1

    Might be worth your $ to have a word to a proper drainage engineer.

  • neo on 16/05/2023 - 10:56

    Agree with Angora above, those two downpipes and grated drain are suspicious. Get someone out who knows what they're doing to resolve it ASAP.

  • skipy89 on 16/05/2023 - 22:38

    Thanks for all comments. The photos were taken after strong rains, including hail. Once removed all debris under the house, will investigate further and reach out to professionals to assist best course of action.

  • brad1-8tsi on 17/05/2023 - 11:44
    +1

    Drainage and ventilation required.

    Replace the terracotta vents with brass ones, they flow a lot higher.

    Divert that open downpipe away from the house.

    Divert other water away from the house. You'll have to cut concrete and get the levels right. You'll have to spend 5 figures but ultimately it will be worth it.

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