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Home > Archive > Home Repair forum > November 2005 > spring water surfacing in driveway
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spring water surfacing in driveway
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Does any one have any experience dealing with the effects of a natural
spring surfacing near houses?
I wonder how much of a risk this is to this house I am considering
buying:
We have lived here 1 year. Last April, the water began surfacing in the
driveway. It occurs after several days of rain. The water continues to
surface for several days after the rain stops. The spring eventually
dries up until it rains again.
Luckily the house is on a slope, so the water travels away from the
house and into the street gutter.
The water was confirmed by the city as a spring. It was described as an
'artesian'.
The paved driveway was already completely cracked apart by a huge tree
roots next to it, so there is no loss there.
There has been no water or flooding at all inside the house for the one
year we have lived here.
My main concerns are.
1) That it never goes away (like it suddenly appeared) and becomes a
big problem when I go to re-sell the property in 2 years.
2) Paving the driveway is useless because water will eventually destroy
it (or paving it will force the water up in a worse place).
3) The spring begins to surface uphill somewhere under the house.
4) Its an eye sore that devalues the property.
Any opinions on these or others concerns?
Thanks,
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| Goedjn 2005-11-10, 3:21 pm |
| >
>Does any one have any experience dealing with the effects of a natural
>spring surfacing near houses?
.. . . .
>
>My main concerns are.
>
>1) That it never goes away (like it suddenly appeared) and becomes a
>big problem when I go to re-sell the property in 2 years.
>2) Paving the driveway is useless because water will eventually destroy
>it (or paving it will force the water up in a worse place).
>3) The spring begins to surface uphill somewhere under the house.
>4) Its an eye sore that devalues the property.
>
Many people consider water features to be a GOOD thing.
Pick a spot at or below the point where the water is
arriving, and put in a pond, letting your subsurface
water drain into that, and then off to wherever you
can dump it. You may have to lay a fair amount
of drain tile. HELP the water, don't fight it.
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| Roger Taylor 2005-11-10, 4:21 pm |
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"Russ" <b_russ@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1131646319.507751.150490@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...>
> Does any one have any experience dealing with the effects of a natural
> spring surfacing near houses?>
> I wonder how much of a risk this is to this house I am considering
> buying:
> We have lived here 1 year. Last April, the water began surfacing in the
> driveway. It occurs after several days of rain. The water continues to
> surface for several days after the rain stops. The spring eventually
> dries up until it rains again.>
> Luckily the house is on a slope, so the water travels away from the
> house and into the street gutter.>
> The water was confirmed by the city as a spring. It was described as an
> 'artesian'.>
> The paved driveway was already completely cracked apart by a huge tree
> roots next to it, so there is no loss there.>
> There has been no water or flooding at all inside the house for the one
> year we have lived here.>
> My main concerns are.>
> 1) That it never goes away (like it suddenly appeared) and becomes a
> big problem when I go to re-sell the property in 2 years.
> 2) Paving the driveway is useless because water will eventually destroy
> it (or paving it will force the water up in a worse place).
> 3) The spring begins to surface uphill somewhere under the house.
> 4) Its an eye sore that devalues the property.>
> Any opinions on these or others concerns?
This is common, and there are several places like this in our neighborhood,
and likely not a serious threat to selling the house. Nevertheless, this is
a fairly easy fix should you wish to pursue it.
If your house is an uphill house, then the spring is not artesian, it is
just where the hillside water table intersects the base of the concrete in
your driveway, causing seepage during rainy periods. It is the result of an
existing water table that was inadvertently excavated for the street, drive,
and house. Tree roots might have also damned the water in that area. You
should check nearer, and under the house for other springs, as they form
uphill from the driveway..
Since the drive needs repair anyway, I would first carefully record exactly
where the spring area is, clear off all the old concrete, remove roots back
to the edge of the drive, and lay drainage tile conduits or very coarse
gravel under the full width of the drive, starting at the uphill end of the
spring, and run the tile or drain tubes out at the curb. When the rains come
again, the water will run thru the coarse material, and the drain tubes, and
go right out the path of least resistance, to the gutter.
I would definitely consult with a (drainage or foundation) civil engineer
(yellow pages) to get the specifics of how and where to run perforated and
solid tubing, filter sleeves for the tubes, etc etc. You can pay him by the
hour, and he will give you a spec sheet and hand sketch for instructing your
concrete contractor. In my experience contractors know little of such
things, and tend to hip shoot more often than not.
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| Brian Attwood 2005-11-10, 6:21 pm |
| Goedjn wrote:
> Many people consider water features to be a GOOD thing.
> Pick a spot at or below the point where the water is
> arriving, and put in a pond, letting your subsurface
> water drain into that, and then off to wherever you
> can dump it. You may have to lay a fair amount
> of drain tile. HELP the water, don't fight it.
I was going to say bottle it up and sell it. People will happily pay
more per gallon for "spring" water than for gas.
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| Doug Kanter 2005-11-10, 6:21 pm |
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"Brian Attwood" <bcattwood@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1131659184.591254.253050@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Goedjn wrote:
>
> I was going to say bottle it up and sell it. People will happily pay
> more per gallon for "spring" water than for gas.
>
Even worse, I heard a news blurb about a month ago about someone who was
successfully selling bottled water specifically aimed at dogs (or, really,
dog owners stupid enough to buy it). The reporter briefly interviewed a
veterinarian who said "Sounds pretty silly, considering that most dogs are
perfectly happy to drink out of the toilet." :-)
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| Jmagerl 2005-11-10, 7:21 pm |
| Not the same as a well but I used to have a house that had a sump that ran
all the time. IT discharged about 20 ft from the driveway. the water sunk
into the ground, ran down hill, and resurfaced right in the middle of it.
After 5 years the once nice asphalt driveway was a bunch of black gravel.
When I repaved I had to lay drain tile under the driveway to drain the water
off and to keep it from percolating thru the asphalt.
"Russ" <b_russ@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1131646319.507751.150490@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
> Does any one have any experience dealing with the effects of a natural
> spring surfacing near houses?
>
> I wonder how much of a risk this is to this house I am considering
> buying:
>
> We have lived here 1 year. Last April, the water began surfacing in the
> driveway. It occurs after several days of rain. The water continues to
> surface for several days after the rain stops. The spring eventually
> dries up until it rains again.
>
> Luckily the house is on a slope, so the water travels away from the
> house and into the street gutter.
>
> The water was confirmed by the city as a spring. It was described as an
> 'artesian'.
>
> The paved driveway was already completely cracked apart by a huge tree
> roots next to it, so there is no loss there.
>
> There has been no water or flooding at all inside the house for the one
> year we have lived here.
>
> My main concerns are.
>
> 1) That it never goes away (like it suddenly appeared) and becomes a
> big problem when I go to re-sell the property in 2 years.
> 2) Paving the driveway is useless because water will eventually destroy
> it (or paving it will force the water up in a worse place).
> 3) The spring begins to surface uphill somewhere under the house.
> 4) Its an eye sore that devalues the property.
>
> Any opinions on these or others concerns?
>
> Thanks,
>
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| m Ransley 2005-11-10, 7:21 pm |
| A few Weeping Willow trees will take all that free water, make a pond
and put in some proper plants in a few years the spring water will be
gone. Most people would like the extra free water my area is drought.
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| NickySantoro 2005-11-11, 1:21 pm |
| On 10 Nov 2005 10:11:59 -0800, "Russ" <b_russ@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>Does any one have any experience dealing with the effects of a natural
>spring surfacing near houses?
>
>I wonder how much of a risk this is to this house I am considering
>buying:
>
>We have lived here 1 year. Last April, the water began surfacing in the
>driveway. It occurs after several days of rain. The water continues to
>surface for several days after the rain stops. The spring eventually
>dries up until it rains again.
>
>Luckily the house is on a slope, so the water travels away from the
>house and into the street gutter.
>
>The water was confirmed by the city as a spring. It was described as an
>'artesian'.
>
>The paved driveway was already completely cracked apart by a huge tree
>roots next to it, so there is no loss there.
>
>There has been no water or flooding at all inside the house for the one
>year we have lived here.
>
>My main concerns are.
>
>1) That it never goes away (like it suddenly appeared) and becomes a
>big problem when I go to re-sell the property in 2 years.
>2) Paving the driveway is useless because water will eventually destroy
>it (or paving it will force the water up in a worse place).
>3) The spring begins to surface uphill somewhere under the house.
>4) Its an eye sore that devalues the property.
>
>Any opinions on these or others concerns?
>
>Thanks,
Happened to a relative of a relative. Came up through his basement
floor. Don't know the final fix but it was expensive.
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| yaofeng 2005-11-11, 1:21 pm |
|
Russ wrote:
> Does any one have any experience dealing with the effects of a natural
> spring surfacing near houses?
>
> I wonder how much of a risk this is to this house I am considering
> buying:
>
> We have lived here 1 year. Last April, the water began surfacing in the
> driveway. It occurs after several days of rain. The water continues to
> surface for several days after the rain stops. The spring eventually
> dries up until it rains again.
>
> Luckily the house is on a slope, so the water travels away from the
> house and into the street gutter.
>
> The water was confirmed by the city as a spring. It was described as an
> 'artesian'.
>
> The paved driveway was already completely cracked apart by a huge tree
> roots next to it, so there is no loss there.
>
> There has been no water or flooding at all inside the house for the one
> year we have lived here.
>
> My main concerns are.
>
> 1) That it never goes away (like it suddenly appeared) and becomes a
> big problem when I go to re-sell the property in 2 years.
> 2) Paving the driveway is useless because water will eventually destroy
> it (or paving it will force the water up in a worse place).
> 3) The spring begins to surface uphill somewhere under the house.
> 4) Its an eye sore that devalues the property.
>
> Any opinions on these or others concerns?
>
> Thanks,
Bottle it up and make a business out of it. Sorry, could not resist.
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