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GORDON wrote: Well damn.

You should incorporate it into a water feature that will always replenish and slowly overflow into a cunningly placed drain, ensuring you always have a clean pool.

Good plan. No idea how to pull it off, but cool plan.

Water goes downhill. Start with that, and let your imagination go. Romans used to fill cities full of fountains, one filling the next, over and over, going downhill.

Even if it was just a simple square koi pond that could drain into a vegetable garden, that would be cool. I'd use a free source of flowing water.

Hell... I'd try to dig deep enough to catch it before it got all muddy, and make beer out of it.

All I hear is "Free moat"

TheCatt wrote: All I hear is "Free moat"

yES!

How about a really small gristmill.

GORDON wrote: Hell... I'd try to dig deep enough to catch it before it got all muddy, and make beer out of it.

I just want to dig down deep enough that it stops going into my crawlspace. It doesn't stay there, but it's still too damp for a crawlspace.

Troy wrote: How about a really small gristmill.

Really really small amount of power generation.

I've never had your particular problem, regarding diverting it out of the crawl space.... though my first thought would be to dig a 3 foot sump under the house there and install a pump (don't just stick it in the mud, look up a youtube vid about lining it with stones and use an actual, inexpensive, plastic sump liner). You should be able to drop the water level at least 2 feet without too much effort, as long as you have somewhere to discharge the water where it wont just flow back under the house.

We basically did what Gordon is saying, with a giant trench around the entire crawlspace and then sealed it

There isn't any water IN the crawlspace, it's just that the water flows so close that it is permanently damp in parts. I put a industrial de humidifer up a few days ago and it is drying out most parts but those in the direction of the spring.

Trees around the spring upslope are so wet they have root rot, and some have had be removed and one next to the shed is just a bare hulk. I just had to throw out a big succulent that was about 15 feet away from the spring because it was constantly falling over and rotting itself.

It was good to talk to the county and municipal water guys today. Current plan is to dig 2-3 feet down and 3 feet wide and and go from the spring to the existing concrete retaining wall below. Then use the natural crack the water has formed to place a pipe, lots of gravel, and either the "step" pond mentioned or some of the those water collection jugs, before exiting to a street cut.

A sump would actively lower the water level in the ground.... but whatever works. IANA foundation flexpert.

GORDON wrote: A sump would actively lower the water level in the ground.... but whatever works. IANA foundation flexpert.

I asked why not a sump pump to firm #3 who was doing a quote today, and also didn't suggest one as a solution.

Basically - because it's pretty damp all the time, it'd be like a temporary band-aid, the sump pump would eventually need replacing, and the water is still going through the foundation and ground under the house to get to the pump.

Their idea was dig and cut the outdoor concrete around the foundation up-slope, and install a deep french drain there, paired with some other gutter collection drains, which would divert water around the house instead of letting it come in and then using a sump pump to get it out. All drains go to a master drain in front of the garage which sends through the curb to the street.

Ahhh. I wasn't sure if the spring was directly under the house, or what.

Did any of them suggest lifting the house up onto stilts? If so, I'd go with that plan.

GORDON wrote: Ahhh. I wasn't sure if the spring was directly under the house, or what.

Did any of them suggest lifting the house up onto stilts? If so, I'd go with that plan.

I think they are going to do that to install the new footing, but it's not permanent. And doing it permanently sounds crazy expensive!

Luckily the foundation is just damaged by the water that is flowing in, it's not tilted or sinking or anything.

Sounds like stilts are the way to go.

First shot at using an Apple Grabber. An apple fell out of the bucket and and hit me directly on the nose. Motherfucker. I'll get better.

Picturing Marsha Brady from the movie

I've mapped out the areas to dig the trenches and french drains with a consultant. This weekend I was still waiting on inlets, pipes, and fittings to be delivered. Had plenty of gravel, sand, and geotextile fabric though. E

We found out over the weekend that it was going to rain Monday morning. A month and a half earlier than expectations. FUCK. We decided to dig an-up slope dry well, drainage ditch, which I'll meet by digging up from the street with a 4" smooth pipe and rock aggregate french drain.

Digging down into the mud to create the low spot.
.

Covering with sand and geo fabric.


Covered with a shallow gravel layer (needs to be filled in completely but more work than hours in the day this weekend)


We got the expected rain early this morning, and it filled in nicely. Is improving the drainage in the surrounding areas significantly.



French drains from the street up next. My fucking perforated pipe needs to get here too.

I can't really get a sense of what you're trying to accomplish, from these pics.

GORDON wrote: I can't really get a sense of what you're trying to accomplish, from these pics.

Maybe this will help.


You are looking at the "spring drain"

I'll fill the spring drain to the top with gravel, another layer of geo-fabric to create a nice permeable subsurface area, and then 3 inches of sand and dirt. Finally, put some ferns on top for extra vegetation drainage.