Water in floor void / crawlspace

[Boldzak]

Hi

My 1950's detached house has a suspended timber floor and the void/crawlspace base is soil and some rubble. The void varies between 18" and 2.5' in height depending on where I am in the building.

Having been down there a few times over the past year, I've noticed that in one area, there is standing water. The wet area is approx. 5' by 3' and the water is around 1-2" in the middle. I'm pretty sure it's a high water table issue, but can't be 100% certain. I've not been able to find any leaks and as far as I can tell, water isn't rising up the perimeter walls or the short walls (not sure what they're called) which support the internal walls of the house.

My question is, should I be worried about this? Will standing water eventually affect the timber joists or cause any other issues other than soaking wet knees & hands when crawling through it?

If this is relatively normal in certain parts of the country and won't lead to future problems, how best should I go about fixing things so it's a little drier down there for my occasional trip to run cables, etc? Rather than putting down a big sheet of plastic to crawl over, should I put more earth down in the 'dip' where the water collects to soak up the puddle or should I get a tonne of shingle and then cover that somehow?

It's a minor annoyance at present but any advice on the above would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

 

[pinenot]

Solums in those days were normally compacted by the whacking of the back of the shovel, not very hard compaction. Therefore I suspect you have a clay subsoil allowing water to pool in the wet area you describe. Will it cause any harm, has it caused any harm in the 60+ years to date? If not then I think you can safely say no.
What ever you do try resisting anything that would push the water down because as we all know water has to go somewhere, better where it is than forced up your walls.
This is one of the most common complaints when say a concrete floor has been laid where previously the floor substrate could breath moisture. Don't just take my word for it check out all the relating archived posts on this site!

If you are on a slope you could cut a catchment french drain around that side of the property, deep enough to cut into the water level and drain to the downside of the slope?
Or as above with a drainage sump terminating the down flo??...pinenot