Water Under Floor Boards

[Burrows]

Hi Guys....
I have a 1950 semi and when I lifted floor boards to move a radiator, I found about 6” of water under one section of the house, the house is on a slight hill, the concrete sub floor under the boards steps down from the front of the house in three sections each section steps down about 3 courses, it’s the last section at the rear that is holding the water, there is a good 4feet of crawl space below the boards so thankfully the water is nowhere near the damp coarse, the water itself is clear and doesn’t smell, I couldn’t find where the water came from and don’t know how long it’s been there as I have only had the house for 8 months, Iv pumped out the water and still have no idea where the water came in.
Dose anyone have any thoughts and do you think I have a major problem........

 

[joinerjohn]

Probably got there through the airbricks, built into the walls underneath the flooring. I'd check at the lowest point of the house that an airbrick hasn't become blocked with leaves/debris etc.

 

[Burrows]

The air bricks in that section are all ok, but are a good three feet above the water level as the back yard area outside that section is also about 3 feet above the water level, so i cant see the water has any where to go..

 

[KenGMac]

Hi.

Been here a few times, there are 4 possible causes of water in the sub floor area
1/. There is a leak somewhere in the properties plumbing? put your ear to a tap and listen for the "hiss"
2/. A mains water pipe is leaking fairly close to the property.
3/. there is a leaking drain again close to the property.
4/. ground water, the rising ground water table is causing water to enter the founds.

There are tests that can be undertaken to find out if the water contains "fecal material [drain problem] or chlorine[ mains water ] but the tests are expensive and art times inconclusive.

contact the local to you water board and the local authority drains people, they may turn out and see what they have to say? in a recent report I read from both, the water board tests indicated that the water contained fecal material, guess what the local authority said the water had chlorine in it? a real nice double act.

One way ahead is to contact your Buildings Insurer and see if they can assist? they may send someone out to test the mains water feed from the street and[if you are lucky] send out a drain crew to do a CCTV survey of the drains. Be warned if it it ground eater there is no cover under the Policy, there are specific exclusions applying to almost all policies.

one other port of call is the local to you Environmental Health, because until the source is established the water "could be" contaminated with something that could affect your well being?

Ask some of the neighbours about the problem?

 

[tim00]

It's probably ground water, water rarely enters the vents. Hillside properties are prone to g/w in the sub-area. Water moves downhill.
Do you have an oversite of concrete or any signs of a vapour barrier? Is there a tide mark on the foundation walls?

I once lifted floor boards and there was a 3ft of dark stream of water flowing past -luckily, it was only seasonal. A 1900 terrace built over an undiverted stream bed that became wet with heavy weather.

Some times you just have to live with this kind of thing. If you sump-pump it, you can end up pumping the water table.