Crawl space oh sh#t

As far as pumping into the sewer,

1) it can cause havoc on the entire waste system of the house because of the extra water flow introduced. It would be far worse with a septic system than the city sewer. I’m not fluent with applying the code/law to this, but I’m fairly certain it’s directly against Nc code.

2) it will pump some sediment into the waste system. There is no perfect filtering method to keep all sediment out of the sump. Too coarse and it won’t filter, too fine and it will clog and stop the water. If that occurs the water will collapse the sump around the pump.

3) sediment in the waste system will cause it to back up as the grit settles into the fittings and elbows. Same as a sluice box filtering for gold.

4) this is biggest. When the waste system backs up, it will flood the crawlspace with sewer water.

Even using a check valve, they aren’t perfect.

So trying to fix one issue, you create several more.

At least as of now, you are dealing with clean ground water.

Imagine having the same flooded crawlspace but now it’s black/grey water.

Then if it’s a large enough event, imagine this black/grey water mixing with crawlspace water and getting into the low hanging or badly strapped up ductwork.

Not to mention the implications of having to work in/around this mess.

These are the first couple reason on my mind this am.

The highly probably potential risk is too great, when compared to keeping the systems separate.

Just do what you can to pipe the discharge water to the most convenient place available.

Keep the two systems separate.
 
ponykilr said:
It may be against some law, but I see no issue in pumping it discreetly into a drain line.
Click to expand...

Sediment is very different than human waste and toilet paper. When you pump muddy water into a sewer system the mud will separate and clump. Municipalities with have a shit-fit if they find mud in their systems, and will backtrace it to the source.
Granted, you're not talking about producing an industrial size mess, but still, that's not "an approved place of disposal" as the code reads. New construction is not allowed to tie on to municipal sewer systems until the entire system has been flushed (because mud) but it's typically because of the municipalities rules and regulations.

Then you have a venting issue...without a trap, you get the funk of 10,000 assholes filling your crawlspace. This is why condensate and rainwater cannot be routed to the sewer (outside of using a trapped floor drain for individual AC units). Plus, the sewer backs up, and where does it go?

There are bad ideas, and then there's the idea of pumping into your sewer. That's a whole new level of bad idea
 
ponykilr said:
It may be against some law, but I see no issue in pumping it discreetly into a drain line. They charge you sewage for washing your car or watering your lawn.
Click to expand...


I wouldn’t pump it into septic system but wouldn’t hesitate to pump it to a storm drain system. It’s surface water which is what storm drain systems are designed for
 
He's very unlikely to have a storm drain under the house or within any reasonable proximity. In a residential neighborhood, it's probably under the street (if there's one at all).

@Loganwayne - the entire lot slopes toward the house?
 
If it’s surface water making its way under the house, install a diversion berm and direct that water around the house and to the storm drains, if any.
 
shawn said:
He's very unlikely to have a storm drain under the house or within any reasonable proximity. In a residential neighborhood, it's probably under the street (if there's one at all).

@Loganwayne - the entire lot slopes toward the house?
Click to expand...
rockcity said:
If it’s surface water making its way under the house, install a diversion berm and direct that water around the house and to the storm drains, if any.
Click to expand...

i tried to make a picture showing roughly what is going on. the yellow/green outlined areas are berms.
the star is were the storm drain is.
arrows show water flow direction.
solid line is property lines.
the big blue/purple circle is where the water stands the most and deepest, although i do have some standing on the left side of the house as well.



if the colors are wrong :flipoff2: im color blind
 

Attachments

  • water.png
    water.png
    454.7 KB · Views: 211
Loganwayne said:
i tried to make a picture showing roughly what is going on. the yellow/green outlined areas are berms.
the star is were the storm drain is.
arrows show water flow direction.
solid line is property lines.
the big blue/purple circle is where the water stands the most and deepest, although i do have some standing on the left side of the house as well.



if the colors are wrong :flipoff2: im color blind
Click to expand...

I say do the sump thing that Scott posted, and either discharge it to the east or to the south (street), depending on which side has the most positive slope away from the house. Might could even run that discharge line most of the way out to the curb.

If there are gutters on the house, put extensions on the downspouts to get them 5-6ft min away from the house.
 
shawn said:
I say do the sump thing that Scott posted, and either discharge it to the east or to the south (street), depending on which side has the most positive slope away from the house. Might could even run that discharge line most of the way out to the curb.

If there are gutters on the house, put extensions on the downspouts to get them 5-6ft min away from the house.
Click to expand...

The garage is on slab but I was planning on taking it out the east side since that looks to be the lowest space in crawl space naturally.

Downspouts are ran about 10’ from house now.

It’s a shit lot, but fixable I just don’t want to do it yet


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Loganwayne said:
The garage is on slab but I was planning on taking it out the east side since that looks to be the lowest space in crawl space naturally.

Downspouts are ran about 10’ from house now.

It’s a shit lot, but fixable I just don’t want to do it yet


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

And if you build up the lot and slope away from the house, the crawlspace will still be a bowl of a low spot in the center.

Looking at the front of the house from the street,

If the left side is the lowest elevation in crawlspace, put sump pump there,

Then pump it to the street.

Put your pipe at the foundation at the height of your desired final grade and slope to street. I’d come thru the foundation wall as high as possible, while still having slope, then elbow down to your desired height. So anyone looking for that pipe will see where it exits.

This way when you add dirt to fix the lot, the pipe is buried and you create a berm/swell on that side from corner of house to street.
 
Talked to a neighbor this afternoon and he said he had some standing water in his yard that was not draining well. He dug a hole, not sure how deep but about 3' across and filled it full of gravel. I'm sure there's a name for it but the only thing I can think of is French drain. He put weed mat on top and called it good. All the water drains there and soaks down into the soil. Put a couple of those around the house until the legal BS gets taken care of. You, Joseph and Robby can dig the holes in an afternoon. At a minimum it'll get rid of the mosquito breeding grounds.
 
If you dig a 3" hole anywhere in NC right now you will have yourself a gypsy well. The water table is so high you can stick a straw in your yard and quench a camel's thirst
 
I had the same problem with water getting under my home. I dug a trench around the back of my home around 1 foot below the foundation and put gravel and a drain pipe with holes in it and run it to a ditch. It used to keep water puddled up at the back of my house for days and now it is gone soon after it quits raining now and no more water problem under the house it has been dry for years now.
 
My home is a bit "downhill" water runs in from heavy rains under the house and puddles up in my crawlspace. Also rain water sneaks in under my sidewalk and follows the well line into my home.
Where i live is just plain wet and the whole gypsy well comment is true. I dug a hole for a new fencepost and about 2' down got water.
Anyhow as for the crawlspace...
I found all this when we moved in and had to replace the subfloor where the toilet flange was busted. $$$
I would never have found it if we didn't have to fix the one issue. So good news but more money bad news.

I had to get a french drain dug underneath and a sump pump put in in one of those small buckets. They recovered the entire crawlspace with plastic.
I've been in there a few times and its working good.
PVC pipes out the crawlspace through the bricks.
The sump is automatic and goes out the house about 4' on the low end towards the neighbor.
He hasn't told me if he has any issues with his yard. I can find out.
I have a heavy duty sump pump you can buy i'm not using if you want to try digging your own bucket and drain setup.
I hear the pump run automatically when it rains then it runs less and less a day after the rain and then I don't hear it run again until the next rain.
They dug a french drain down the back side of the lowest portion of the house and water just naturally will follow gravity to the bucket.

Also I talked to a friend of mine who does landscape work and he said I could do two more things to keep the water away.
put in one of those gravel pit things described above and also a mini culvert to divert the water to the backyard from the driveway.
I'm holding off on that for now but when It rains super hard I get water in my garage running down my driveway. The ground just can't soak it up.
anyhow hope that helps fwiw
 
Back
Top