Water around foundation

Did a inspection today water was about 3 blocks high on the inside of the block including middle piers. a trench has been dug about 15 years ago . this had about 18 inches of water in it and was draining enough to hear it I thought it was a broken pipe at first . when i probed by the foundation water was bubbling up ,Kinda tells you there was pressure .Low lot i assuming it is ground water . A fellow next door said it has been like that for 18 years .
Anyway over time I know this will affect the footings . Question is if the proper drainage is installed does anyone think the footings will be effected if the proper drainage is installed and the area dried ( if it can be?) I afraid of settlement . Any thoughts ?

This sounds extremely bad, it may not cause major issues until it has dried up. Sounds like it may never get to an acceptable level.
Sounds like the piers may be spaced fairly far apart on one that age too.

How flat is the lot?
How big and tall is the house?
How did the framing look?

The lot is fairly flat,Low at the back.the floor structure was fine surprisingly enough hardly any fungus most of the dirt was stable and not soft. however it appears in the middle of the crawlspace this is about in 2000 square foot area water was present in the middle of the building. I’m thinking either a spring or surface water.however as stated before this has been an ongoing issue for 18 years. the builder had to come back and do some foundation work right after it was built.

All soils have an optimum for compaction and water seems to out weigh any mechanical device I have seen yet.

I would imagine that with a footing and water table high, the water entered the blockes and was trapped. Blocks are big wicks anyways.

Typically, with undisturbed soils and compacted soils, if saturated with water and then dried, it will settle.
Once it has settled and dried, and saturated again, chances are whatever is bearing on it will no longer move. The voids have all been previously filled by the water.

:):smiley:

Marcel
That’s what I would usually think that to, however I witnessed water bubbling around the foundation in several locations like it was spring fed. the soil beside the footings was extremely soft.

I would look into a dewatering system.
I was involved with three and all worked well .
.One was down about thirty feet and it saved a 100 foot Silo.
Two where on homes one about 8 feet and the other about 6 feet .
Both again allowed the people to have a dry home .
A simple explanation is a well near the structure removing the water .

Yes Wayne, I understand, and after so many years, a spring like that can no longer saturate the ground because it already is to the optimum, so the only space it has it up above grade.

What I have seen, if you divert the water and reduce the hydrostatic underground water pressure, everything should be back to normal with 100% compaction.
Saturated soils will be soft and one could not build on that. The water is taking the least resistive way out and that is up.

I would recommend full site water evacuation by site drainage .

Hope that makes sense. :slight_smile:

I recommend that exactly Marcel . Thanks Roy i will forward that information on to the Buyer He is a electrical ENG and His Wife is a Mechanical eng
Thanks for the input

Wayne,The saturated soil will not likely dry out uniformly causing some differential settlement. I would recommend the owner wait until 6 months after the soil has dried out before assessing any damage and/or making any repairs. If there is a vapor barrier remove it and add fans to increase air flow.

Thanks Randy
I discussed it with the buyer . he is going to do more reseach to see what his options are .
350.000 home .

Depending on the age of the home, it may be sitting on pilings, which would compensate for wet soil conditions.