Help me tame the flood waters

[tvtaurus]

So the property that I live on is near completely flat (it used to be farm land). Been dealing with some settling issues in the house. Problem has been traced down to high water table/flooding during heavy rains. Went to check out my crawlspace yesterday to find it full about 4" of water. At this point I decided to put in a sump pump. Went to Menards to buy supplies; already picked out a sump pump a basin lines and fittings and made my way to the drill bit isle. That was when i realized that i have no way of getting a sump basin down there. The only access to the crawl space is between two floor joists in the master closet. Not wide enough to fit the basin through. I am at an impasse right now with what to do from here. I have never heard of a collapsible basin; and I'm sure it wouldn't be a good idea to cut the thing in two and reassemble it down there. Any ideas or suggestions would be great.

P.S.- This is garage related B/c this work keeps me from my garage and my other projects.

 

[Steelernation13]

I would just go to Home Depot and buy the Wayne water bug. I bought one for the same problem. Can move 1200g per/hr. This isn't a permanent fix but works.

 

[ambenz]

Why not spend a bit of time and trench around the house and put in a perforated pipe graded down to a outside sump pit close to a electric source to run a pump. Run the discharge line out to the ditch along the street?
It really is just a bandage to your problem!
You really should jack the house a couple feet and add fill to grade the property properly.

 

[WQ59B]

Assuming standard joist spacing, IE: 14.5 inches wide access, what about this for a basin?

 

[matt_i]

As above you could cut it in half, scab it back together, and use it as a form for concrete poured by the bag outside of it. Probably best done when its dry though...

 

[southalabama]

How much height is in your crawl space??

 

[tvtaurus]

Why not spend a bit of time and trench around the house and put in a perforated pipe graded down to a outside sump pit close to a electric source to run a pump. Run the discharge line out to the ditch along the street?
It really is just a bandage to your problem!
You really should jack the house a couple feet and add fill to grade the property properly.

Problem is there is not ditch at the street, I live in the country. Road is level with yard and driveway.

 

[tvtaurus]

Assuming standard joist spacing, IE: 14.5 inches wide access, what about this for a basin?

I already have a 5 gallon bucket down there right now with a pump trying to dry things out for now. Bucket has to be squeezed to fit between the joists.

 

[tvtaurus]

How much height is in your crawl space??

I would say 3.5-4'. I am over 6' tall so it is not fun working down there.

 

[bczygan]

Cut a joist, header it off and make an access hatch.

 

[themiller]

I already have a 5 gallon bucket down there right now with a pump trying to dry things out for now. Bucket has to be squeezed to fit between the joists.

Nothing wrong with that. Dig a hole, line with rock, drill some small holes in the bucket, put a board over it with some weight on either side to keep it down. Small pump in there and you're golden.

Not really addressing the problem, and without drain tile unlikely that you're going to really fix, but if you have 4" of standing water it's at least a start!

French drain in the yard and gutters draining 100' from the house, perhaps into a drywell should also make a difference.

 

[ambenz]

Problem is there is not ditch at the street, I live in the country. Road is level with yard and driveway.

Gosh, you're gonna need to dig a retention pond with a raised dike...or just jack the house...

So the water your pumping now is just going back under the house???

 

[padroo]

Where are your gutters draining to?

 

[Thumper68]

I have built a couple of sump pits with landscape block, need a bigger hole but worked great.

 

[sms1974]

you would be better off to do a tile around the outside and keep the crock outside also. get the water before it gets inside

 

[boo coo tracks]

If it is farm ground, check to see if that 80 acres was tiled years ago. You might find a map of grid lines (laterals) to tie into to.
Tracks

 

[Orionrising]

If its as flat as it sound there may be no good tile outlet withough digging a pond.

 

[tvtaurus]

House is on a little over half an acre. Plan is to run drainage tile to a drywell with popup back by the farm field behind the house. Gutters currently are hooked to french drains. Half of the crawl space dred up with the pump running last night

 

[D45]

How old is the house?

 

[dandan111]

I would double check those gutters. Make shure all the water is going down and
Not making a big wet spot. Just digging a pit down until you punch threw to sand
Would help I bet. Back fill with stone.

 

[tvtaurus]

How old is the house?

House was built in 1996.

 

[tvtaurus]

I would double check those gutters. Make shure all the water is going down and
Not making a big wet spot. Just digging a pit down until you punch threw to sand
Would help I bet. Back fill with stone.

I did look into them. I used my video scope on my phone and sent it down. The only one that I thought was suspect I disconnected and have a 8ft extension on for now.

 

[southalabama]

It sounds like your gonna be under there a good bit until you get it under control.

I'd go ahead and break out the sawzall and make a scuttle hole. Cut a joist and reframe the hole. Floor jack if necessary to support the cut joist.

 

[kbs2244]

Be prepared

 

[tvtaurus]

Be prepared

You animal. I think that it would work like a funnel though.

 

[tvtaurus]

UPDATE:
Didn't take any pictures but got some work done. I changed my mind on where to put the sump pump. I ended up putting it in the front corner of the house in a Rubbermaid tote. Me and my brother trenched out the footer along the whole front of the house and up the left side. Then laid 4" perforated pipe along the footer and connects to the sump pit (75' of it). Installed a 1/4 HP pump and plumed 40' of PVC pipe for discharge. Still going to add another 25 ft of perforated pipe. Also have to wire a GFCI outlet down there to run it. Definitely making some progress.