water coming up through floor

[dragonfly101]

In one corner of my living room I noticed a small puddle this morning, and on further inspection saw that the varnished wood flooring was damaged there (suggesting water has been appearing there and then drying off for a while) - it was under my tv unit so I'd not noticed it before.

This corner of the room has the guttering downpipe on the other side of the wall, and also some holes drilled for TV cable, lead, satellite cable, and a vent (needed for a gas fire). I can see no evidence of rain water coming through any of these holes, the water appears to be springing up from under the floor (about 50 cm from the wall). There are no central heating or other pipes anywhere near this corner of the room.

I've only been in the house a couple of years, the neighbour told me our guttering drained into a soakway - I'm not really sure what that is or how it works, but I fear it may mean there is too much water under the house, and it's seeping up. When I had the house surveyed before buying the surveyor reported that we shouldn't raise the level of the patio because the damp proof barrier was only 10cm above the current level.

Please could anyone advise me of any tests I can do to work out where this water is coming from?

Many thanks

 

[JohnD]

is it a concrete floor, or a wooden floor with a space underneath that is ventilated with airbricks?

Does water puddle against the house, e.g. on paving or driveway, or from ground sloping down towards the house?

Is the outside ground level higher than the floor?

Is there a bay window with a little roof?

Have you got a water meter?

Is there a radiator near this water?

When cables pass through a wall, they need a "drip loop" on the outside of the wall to prevent water running inside. Have yours got one? If not, run a watering can on the cables outside to see if it runs in. You can add a little food dye to help.

Does the gutter or downpipe leak or overspill? Watch during heavy rain. Use a torch

 

[dragonfly101]

Thanks for the great reply. I've uploaded a couple of photos, and answers to your questions below.

The puddle has not reappeared since the rain stopped, so I suspect it is rain water. Also, looking outside it's very clear that the bricks around/below the corner of the window are damp. On the inside wall it feels colder to touch in this area too. What I don't understand is how the water could travel from the wall, under the parquet bricks to then well-up half a metre away.

"Is it a concrete floor, or a wooden floor with a space underneath that is ventilated with airbricks?"
Concrete floor, with parquet bricks glued down with bitumen - I believe there is a vent underneath/embedded in the concrete floor that goes from the fireplace to an airbrick (on opposite corner to where I have this water appearing)

"Does water puddle against the house, e.g. on paving or driveway, or from ground sloping down towards the house?"
During very heavy rain it can get maybe 10mm deep on the patio against the bricks - but still below the dpc.

"Is the outside ground level higher than the floor?"
Outside level is about 10cm lower than floor

"Is there a bay window with a little roof?"
No

"Have you got a water meter?"
yes

"Is there a radiator near this water?"
No

"When cables pass through a wall, they need a "drip loop" on the outside of the wall to prevent water running inside. Have yours got one? If not, run a watering can on the cables outside to see if it runs in. You can add a little food dye to help. "
TV cable has drip loop, satelite doesn't - I did the watering can test and both seemed to pass.

"Does the gutter or downpipe leak or overspill? Watch during heavy rain. Use a torch"
Yes, the gutter above the downpipe is frequently overspilling, and I need to clear the moss out regularly - it was overspilling during the recent rain these last few days.

 

[pred]

Do you own a cat?? Is the downpipe blocked or more to the point is the pipe it connects into blocked, I had one where I pulled about fifteen foot of privet hedge root out along with a load of mud.

 

[dragonfly101]

don't have cat. Not sure how I could find out if the downpipe is blocked without cutting into it, but it wouldn't surprise me given the amount of moss that gets in the gutters.

 

[pred]

So we've ruled out the cat peeing in the corner, what about the wife and kids! Are they house trained??
Get a hosepipe or ample amounts of buckets of water and pour into the gutter or snow box to see if it overfills, also where any cables pass through the wall using preferably a clear silicon insert the nozzle in the hole and fill them out.

 

[JohnD]

as you have rainwater overspill, it might be getting into the cavity through cracks or defective pointing. If the rainwater is bad enough it could be just soaking through. In an old house the downpipe might be ragbolted to the brickwork with a bit of a hole.

Fix the rainwater problem first.

 

[dragonfly101]

Just had a really good look, and can see that the cement is in a pretty poor condition in places, even above the dpc in patches. I also dug out around the downpipe and it just goes into concrete.

Here are the photos:

outside wall

• dragonfly101
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• dragonfly101
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• dragonfly101
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inside wall/floor

• dragonfly101
• 15 Nov 2014
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[JohnD]

damp under the corner of the window might mean there is a gap around the frame.

the ground looks very wet round your downpipe and that bottom joint looks unconvincing. See if it is gushing out during rain. The concrete looks like it might have been path or ground level when the house was built, in which case scraping away the earth will keep the wall drier.

 

[dragonfly101]

Thanks John,

Yes, I plan to be outside watching the next time it's raining, and will have a good look at that downpipe joint. I saw a couple of tiny (1mm) gaps at the bottom of the window frame which I've now filled, but I suspect the dampness is from runoff - will test with a watering can. The whiteness on the bricks in that corner looks suspicious to me.

In terms of fixing the damaged cement, is this a DIY job for someone moderately competent - or one for the pros? I also want to remove the vent and brick that up.

 

[JohnD]

it would be hard for you to patch up the mortar and get it worse than whoever fitted that vent.

If you have a lot of repointing to do, you can get a repointing gun that does an excellent hob quickly. You do have to scrape out all the loose or soft stuff so you can force in a decent depth of fill.

 

[Nige F]

I the water appears to be springing up from under the floor (about 50 cm from the wall). There are no central heating or other pipes anywhere near this corner of the room.


Please could anyone advise me of any tests I can do to work out where this water is coming from?

Many thanks

dry the floor and sprinkle talc over it - I can`t imagine it is coming up like a spring but the powder will show what`s happening