[kogreene]

Good afternoon,
For past couple of weeks I have noticed areas on floor that were wet. Started in son´s bedroom, and appear throughout the house, not soaking wet, but wet enough to leave footprint and place towel down to soak up water. No odor and appears no color. Have had 1 plumber came right before Christmas and he checked water meter and said nothing leaking, so ran a scope through pipes to check sewer, and found nothing. So the good news was, he could not find anything obvious, bad new was it was 450.00 to find that out. So I started monitoring all use of appliances to see if any relation to time of use. We have above ground pool in backyard and water level has not dropped. We have had a LOT of rain lately and someone mentioned that the water table could have risen, but I have no idea what that it. We have inspected the water heater in our attic as well as all areas in attic and walls to check for leaks and nothing. It did rain very hard this past Saturday and with in several hours a new wet spot appeared in master bedroom. Single level home, built in 1992, cement slab, only large tree close to house is bradford pear about 18 feet tall. We are located in Tidewater region of Virginia. The ground around our house is usually firm-hard, but seems extra soft, almost mushy lately. Huge mole or vole problem in our neighborhood. Trying to find any suggestions other than replacing all pipes or tearing up a bunch of holes in our home.
Any ideas, suggestions, questions for me to ask local plumbers so I can help make sure I am asking the right questions... thank you

[Milo Dolezal]

Hello Kogreene,

Based on what you've described, I would guess it is rain-related issue. It can be that dirt around your house is too high ( should be 6" bellow the level of the slab ). Downspouts dump lots of water in one area, it accumulates and water overflows slab and enters the house.

Also, you may have torn moisture barrier installed under slab. Raising water is then allowed to push itself through cracks in the slab and into the living areas. Here, you have to wait until the rains stop to see if it really is the ground water that is causing this problem. If your floors dry out after the rains than you know the rain was the culprit.

It could also be a water pipe leak under the slab. However, since your plumber checked it already, this option is less possible.

I would call another plumber in order to have two, perhaps three opinions.

Back to you. Milo

[speedball1]

It did rain very hard this past Saturday and with in several hours a new wet spot appeared in master bedroom

Until
Until I red that I thought your plumber might happiness a leak under the slab. It now appears that you have ground water intrusion.
The solution would be divert the water away from the house by installing French drains around the foundation and pipe the water away. I will for off and an inch of such a drain so you can see what needs to be done. Let me know if this works for you. Good luck, Tom

[smearcase]

I would add to speedball's suggestion a perforated pipe (holes down, at a decent slope that conditions will allow, and about 4 inches off bottom of trench) to help collect the underground water, and move it out of what sounds like saturated soil. All piped to a location where it can be fitted to a larger solid pipe that can be outletted where it will flow away from your property. All easy for me to say but if the surrounding property is flat, not always so easy to do. You may be dealing with a lot of head pressure if the water is able to seep up through concrete. If you unable to get to good spot to drain, ending the pipe (well away from the slab) into a good size, deep as possible, stone filled pit may be enough to relieve the pressure.
And if you are able to install a pipe drain, install a screen on the outlet end to deter those moles and voles from building nests blocking the drainage.