Help!!!

PeonySugar

To cut a long story very short, next door have a high water table under their house and under their floorboards is 1ft-2ft of water at any given time. Someone had put soil under our floorboards which when we dug away water started coming through the party wall into our house. Next door are refusing to fit a pump or do anything at all to remedy this. They refused to let the water company take a sample of their water, and are quite happy to live with 2ft of water underneath their floorboards, and have no qualms about damaging the foundations of our houses, damaging the party wall, causing us damp and water into our house. The water company don't want anything to do with it, neither do the environment agency. what would you do?!

brightontraveller

PeonySugar wrote: »

To cut a long story very short, next door have a high water table under their house and under their floorboards is 1ft-2ft of water at any given time. Someone had put soil under our floorboards which when we dug away water started coming through the party wall into our house. Next door are refusing to fit a pump or do anything at all to remedy this. They refused to let the water company take a sample of their water, and are quite happy to live with 2ft of water underneath their floorboards, and have no qualms about damaging the foundations of our houses, damaging the party wall, causing us damp and water into our house. The water company don't want anything to do with it, neither do the environment agency. what would you do?!

fit you own pump or move You can try legal route would cost you more than putting pump in your self,,,,

DRP

IF next door have a high water table, then (presumably) so do you - you have now dug the soil down to a level below this water table. So maybe, put the soil back? or something similar...

Forgive me if I am wrong in my assessment above, perhaps fill in some detail? Does the whole street/area have a high water table? do you suspect a water leak? Is your house level of uphill from your neighbour?

Davesnave

A party wall isn't going to prevent natural water from percolating through, so if this isn't an issue due to drains or similar, then you'll have a mountain to climb in proving this is somehow your neighbour's fault. If it's natural, you share the same problem.

If it's natural, how come it's suddenly arisen, though, or has been like this a long time?

What would I do? In the short term, probably dig a sump and fit a pump to see how bad the situation is and whether I could cope with it in the interim.

Then I might investigate further and take specialist advice, rather than rely on a forum like this for answers. The specialist I used wouldn't be any kind of contractor with a vested interest

I wouldn't willingly allow something like this to damage my house or health. If it was found to be an intractable problem, I'd cut my losses and move.

Doozergirl

How can next door have a high water table and you not? Water tables aren't restricted to one house. Water finds a level. That's what a water table is.

I think you found the reason for people putting soil under your floorboards.

I am confused. This sounds like the thread from the other week where someone was essentially blaming their neighbour for it raining.

Anyway, buy your own pump and/or put the earth back.

Le_Kirk

Question for the knowledgeable: - If you pump out the water, is it not going to be replaced by more water?

Doozergirl

Le_Kirk wrote: »

Question for the knowledgeable: - If you pump out the water, is it not going to be replaced by more water?

Well yes, sooner or later, depending on whether you're affected just by bad weather raising the water table.

We had a house with a well in the cellar and the water would rise right up in very bad weather and come in quickly, but not go. Pump it out and it would be dry again indefinitely.

My in laws had a house like that too. It's okay for cellars to flood occassionally and you can fit a pump that works automatically when submerged.

Water sitting right under the floorboards is a bit close for comfort though!

Davesnave

Le_Kirk wrote: »

Question for the knowledgeable: - If you pump out the water, is it not going to be replaced by more water?

A pump is a way to find out how large the problem is, not what it is, or whether it can be tackled in an economic manner if it's a serious problem.

My daughter's house has a sump and pump, and we also had one at the school where I worked, so it could be sufficient in itself, but the exact circumstances aren't known here.

oldandhappy

our previous location had a high water table. we had a Well 20 foot down and right next to the conservatory that was added at some point. all neighbors had filled there Wells in over the years and our place which received there run offs of rain into our garden instead of into there wells because ours was the lowest in every direction so we had lots of water at times but never a problem to the property at least as the property was downhill which went to the road then on to the very very new properties below.....floods in garages mainly for them... and because the builders of the very very new properties would not fit the appropriate drainage the rain runs like a river down there road when ever it rains...stones have been added across the road to divert the 'river' to a drain...works well considering.
A solution would work well if the terrain is sloped...if not then filling in underneath is probably the only way to stop the water coming in....

Mojisola

oldandhappy wrote: »

if not then filling in underneath is probably the only way to stop the water coming in....

Filling under a suspended floor with earth won't stop the water coming in - it will just mean that you have wet earth.

Also, the space under the floor is there for ventilation - if it's filled up, you could get other problems with the house.

We used to get rainwater coming in through the airbricks because the level of the drive had been raised - one of the first things we had to correct after we bought the house - but, even after digging out the drive, water still rose up from the ground in wet periods.

We used a pump for years to keep the area dry until we were able to get the floors lifted and the whole area filled with concrete.

oldandhappy

I would not do earth either,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,never said that