I have a modest amount of standing water in the sub-floor of my humble
abode, which I would like to get rid of before I go crawling about,
endeavouring to find where it has got in. Having wasted lots of time
with Google, I've not really found any simple, inexpensive, pumps that
would do the job, so does anyone have any clever ideas ?

The water is maybe 1" deep at its worst, and as far as I can tell, most
submersible pumps will struggle to get down to half that before cutting
out. I found a "puddle-sucker" on one or two sites, which will go down
to a few mm, but at a price. (£100+)

I expect I will end up using my Vax wet'n'dry cleaner, carefully ;-)
It won't care about a bit of grit or the odd small stone, as long as I
avoid letting it overflow...

Once the floor is dry, I thought I might scatter some tell-tale powder
around in order to track the water origin (assuming it's not coming up,
which seems unlikely). Again, any advice much appreciated.

TIA.

--
"I'm easy to please as long as I get my way."

John Laird wrote:
I have a modest amount of standing water in the sub-floor of my humble
abode, which I would like to get rid of before I go crawling about,
endeavouring to find where it has got in. Having wasted lots of time
with Google, I've not really found any simple, inexpensive, pumps that
would do the job, so does anyone have any clever ideas ?

The water is maybe 1" deep at its worst, and as far as I can tell,
most submersible pumps will struggle to get down to half that before
cutting out. I found a "puddle-sucker" on one or two sites, which
will go down to a few mm, but at a price. (£100+)

I expect I will end up using my Vax wet'n'dry cleaner, carefully ;-)
It won't care about a bit of grit or the odd small stone, as long as I
avoid letting it overflow...

Once the floor is dry, I thought I might scatter some tell-tale powder
around in order to track the water origin (assuming it's not coming
up, which seems unlikely). Again, any advice much appreciated.

TIA.

If the surface of your subfloor is below the water line outside (water
table) then you won't be able to drain it properly...what you can do is dig
a sump hole about a foot wide and deep and have a submersible pump running
in this via a float switch, or you could build a soakaway...either way,
atempting to fill cracks etc is a waste of time and effort.

It could be a leaking pipe, have you never noticed it before?

Phil L wrote:
John Laird wrote:
I have a modest amount of standing water in the sub-floor of my humble
abode, which I would like to get rid of before I go crawling about,
(snip)

If the surface of your subfloor is below the water line outside (water
table) then you won't be able to drain it properly...what you can do is dig
a sump hole about a foot wide and deep and have a submersible pump running
in this via a float switch, or you could build a soakaway...either way,
atempting to fill cracks etc is a waste of time and effort.

It could be a leaking pipe, have you never noticed it before?

The locality does, as far as I know, suffer from a high water table. I
am aware it may be a problem with no easy fix, but obviously I would
like to find out as far as possible where the root cause lies. I could
live with a sump pump if it is simply a water table issue. Clearly, a
leaking drain would require more investigation.

I doubt it is a pipe. The water appeared quite suddenly, I think, and
is slowly evaporating. The sub-floor ventilation is good and I have no
immediate concerns about damp affecting the timbers unless the problem
persists for a long time (and even then, adequate ventilation will keep
the RH down). I've only recently moved in, by the way.

Ideally, I would like to catch it next time when there's only a small
amount of water lying about, if possible, and attempt to see if it is
coming from one area or if it is coming up somehow. The sub-floor is
concrete, but that's not to say it's in any way water proof throughout.

Thanks for your comments.

--
"He who lives by the sword laughs last."

John Laird wrote:
I have a modest amount of standing water in the sub-floor of my humble
abode, which I would like to get rid of before I go crawling about,
endeavouring to find where it has got in. Having wasted lots of time
with Google, I've not really found any simple, inexpensive, pumps that
would do the job, so does anyone have any clever ideas ?

The water is maybe 1" deep at its worst, and as far as I can tell,
most submersible pumps will struggle to get down to half that before
cutting out. I found a "puddle-sucker" on one or two sites, which
will go down to a few mm, but at a price. (£100+)


Hire a wet vac with an internal sub pump like this;
http://www.hss.com/g/58231/Auto_Pump_Wet_Vacuum.html

Wouldn't go to HSS myself because they are pricy, local independant hire
shop might have one.

The vac will suck the water up and when the tank fills the internal sub pump
gets rid of it. The vac will dry the floor completely - apart from any
absorbed water.



--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

The Medway Handyman wrote:
John Laird wrote:
I have a modest amount of standing water in the sub-floor of my humble
abode, which I would like to get rid of before I go crawling about,
endeavouring to find where it has got in. Having wasted lots of time
with Google, I've not really found any simple, inexpensive, pumps that
would do the job, so does anyone have any clever ideas ?

The water is maybe 1" deep at its worst, and as far as I can tell,
most submersible pumps will struggle to get down to half that before
cutting out. I found a "puddle-sucker" on one or two sites, which
will go down to a few mm, but at a price. (£100+)


Hire a wet vac with an internal sub pump like this;
http://www.hss.com/g/58231/Auto_Pump_Wet_Vacuum.html

Noted, thanks.

[It might be a bit of a struggle getting something that size into the
sub-floor void, mind you.]

--
"I am in total control, but don't tell my wife."

"John Laird" wrote in message
oups.com...
The Medway Handyman wrote:
John Laird wrote:
I have a modest amount of standing water in the sub-floor of my humble
abode, which I would like to get rid of before I go crawling about,
endeavouring to find where it has got in. Having wasted lots of time
with Google, I've not really found any simple, inexpensive, pumps that
would do the job, so does anyone have any clever ideas ?

The water is maybe 1" deep at its worst, and as far as I can tell,
most submersible pumps will struggle to get down to half that before
cutting out. I found a "puddle-sucker" on one or two sites, which
will go down to a few mm, but at a price. (£100+)


Hire a wet vac with an internal sub pump like this;
http://www.hss.com/g/58231/Auto_Pump_Wet_Vacuum.html

Noted, thanks.

[It might be a bit of a struggle getting something that size into the
sub-floor void, mind you.]

Water pooling in a void is (usually) a sign that the drainage of the ground
surrounding your house is inadequate. The water is probably pooling in a
hollow below grade. Inspect your properties _exterior_ . Is there land
(lawn, garden, patio .... ) that is higher than your house's grade? Unless
properly drained with 'weep holes' leading to a drain/sump; such land will
act as a sponge and rain water will seep from it (under gravity) and gather
in any hollow - perhaps in the void under your floors! If this is the case
then a pump will be on a hiding to nothing because as you pump it out water
will seep back!
On the other hand; you may have a leaking pipe .....

--

Brian

Brian Sharrock wrote:

Water pooling in a void is (usually) a sign that the drainage of the ground
surrounding your house is inadequate. The water is probably pooling in a
hollow below grade. Inspect your properties _exterior_ . Is there land
(lawn, garden, patio .... ) that is higher than your house's grade?

The back garden slopes down to a patio which then slopes up to the
house. There is a supposed to be a ditch where the lawn meets the
patio, which runs to a soakaway. I suspect this is now under the shed
;-) The lawn does appear to be particularly soggy in this region,
which is certainly above the level of the sub-floor.

Unless
properly drained with 'weep holes' leading to a drain/sump; such land will
act as a sponge and rain water will seep from it (under gravity) and gather
in any hollow - perhaps in the void under your floors! If this is the case
then a pump will be on a hiding to nothing because as you pump it out water
will seep back!

The front drive slopes away from the house and there is a surface water
drain at its low point. I had imagined that a sump pump could simply
discharge onto the drive. Arguably, draining the rear garden onto the
front drive by way of my sub-floor is not the most elegant solution,
but until I have gauged the severity and frequency of the pooling, I
will reserve judgement.

Now that I have been paying more attention to the locality, I have
noticed that the road verges often hold pools of water by the kerbside,
even in dry spells. I wonder if this could be indicative of a high
water table ? (Or it could be leaky supply pipes.)

On the other hand; you may have a leaking pipe .....

Of course.

I will have a word with my neighbour who lives in a much older house
which will almost certainly have cellars, and see if he has any
relevant information to impart.

--
"Is this the right room for an argument?"

Somebody wrote....


The water is maybe 1" deep at its worst, and as far as I can tell,
most submersible pumps will struggle to get down to half that before
cutting out. I found a "puddle-sucker" on one or two sites, which
will go down to a few mm, but at a price. (£100+)


Hire a wet vac with an internal sub pump like this;


Could you not dig a small sump to collect a depth of water and pump it to a
drain outside? It could have a float switch to cut out when the sump is
empty.
--
Derby, England.

Don't try to email me using "REPLY" as the email address is NoSpam. Our
email address is "thewoodies2 at ntlworld dot com"


"John Laird" wrote in message
oups.com...
The Medway Handyman wrote:
John Laird wrote:
I have a modest amount of standing water in the sub-floor of my humble
abode, which I would like to get rid of before I go crawling about,
endeavouring to find where it has got in. Having wasted lots of time
with Google, I've not really found any simple, inexpensive, pumps that
would do the job, so does anyone have any clever ideas ?

The water is maybe 1" deep at its worst, and as far as I can tell,
most submersible pumps will struggle to get down to half that before
cutting out. I found a "puddle-sucker" on one or two sites, which
will go down to a few mm, but at a price. (£100+)


Hire a wet vac with an internal sub pump like this;
http://www.hss.com/g/58231/Auto_Pump_Wet_Vacuum.html

Noted, thanks.

[It might be a bit of a struggle getting something that size into the
sub-floor void, mind you.]

--
"I am in total control, but don't tell my wife."