One for the housing gurus - sub floor soil

[chester ver2.0]

Hi guys we are currently going through buying another house and need some advice

The one we have our eye on is 2 level on a sloping block with the upper level in line with the ground at the front of the house then the block falls away to the lower level of the house being level with the back of the block

My question is due to the design there is a void under the house that has some soil that when i inspected the house was quite wet. Now in Newcastle we have just had about 2 months rain in 1 week and i would expect some seepage from the top of the block but how much is too mush as this soil was quite damp

Any advice from builders and the like would be greatly appreciated

[Beachman]

By the sounds of it our house was the same style before we renovated and put a retaining wall around the house (This retaining wall is a U shape which is 1m from the houses) this allows us to walk between the house and the wall and has fixed the water/damp problem.

Before we renovated under the house was either damp or dusty. After heavy rain we would have water seeping through the garage area for 7-10 days.

Now with the retaining wall in place, under the house is now usable with no damp smells and 100% dry.

[BaseCamp]

I'm not a builder - but have a similar set up.

I have retaining walls in a U under the building / big sloping block...

In my situation what was happening was that because the ground was not concreted; water was flowing from the hill above the property subterraneanously; then would come up onto the ground surface under my building...

Once I pumped in 3.5 concrete trucks worth of slab - issue mostly fixed....

Also check you have a good drainage set up on the negative side of the walls  . 

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[xcvator]

Sounds pretty normal to me. Probably the cheapest and easiest solution is to have a "cut off drain" installed several metres above the house on the high side

[MDS69]

Yes a few different things to consider. As you say a lot of rain in that short time and you expect seepage but again as you say how much is too much. It might be normal after that amount of rain. If you do purchase and without seeing photos you could install an ag line across the front of the house. An ag line or some form of drainage in the sub floor area. Vents for cross ventilation. Give it a week and go for a second look and check it out again to see how much it has dried out.

[GBC]

Ground = wet
house = dry

Not panic stations.

All retaining walls hold water back no matter how good the drainage. If the spot you are looking at is just above a retaining wall it sounds pretty normal. I'd be getting it inspected if I was putting in an offer though.
I have a rock seam that comes out of the hill just below my pool. 1/2 a day after decent rain a torrent of water pours out as the groundwater makes it's way through. The neighbour below me bitches about it but there's not much any of us can do.

[loanrangie]

Our house is like that, we get no seepage at all under the house. A little on one side under the side deck as it is open but none under the main house.