Water, Water, Everywhere

4 AM Monday morning, we woke up to the sound of the water alarm going off under our house. 3 years ago we installed a system called "Clean Space" in our crawl space to get rid of the standing water we had down there about six to eight months out of the year.

We had installed a drainage system and gravity drain in our crawl space. The entire crawl space was then sealed off with thick plastic to prevent any moisture left in the ground from entering the air in the crawl space. Any water that did enter the crawl space was quickly drained off preventing any significant accumulation under the plastic layer and no water above the plastic barrier. The system had worked very well since it was installed, and kept our crawl space dry through several severe storms. We had become so confident in it that we used part of it for storage.

Then early Monday morning, during our heavy rain, water flowed in so quickly that the gravity drain could not keep up. The water flooded the crawl space and soaked everything down there. After spending the next couple hours pulling everything out of the 18" of standing water under our house, it was time for OHM's Dad to go to work. OHM was quite surprised to see the river of water flowing through the yard before going to the babysitter. OHM's Mom decided to stay home on Monday to sort through the now soaked pictures, letters, keepsakes, and off season clothing.

Throughout the day, the water flow around the house got worse and worse. There was a stream flowing through our driveway with the water run off from our neighbors, and our neighbor's neighbors, and their neighbors. This flowed into the little steam that goes around the front and side of our house.

The picture above shows the water draining from our back and side yard into the stream. I circled the gravity drain working away trying to empty the crawl space. The water level peaked around 11 AM, and most of the water had drained out from under the house by 5 PM. Something tells me a new sump pump will be installed before we are finished with our home renovation.