Standing water near foundation

[slow06]

Other than possible leakage if it gets too high, why is this a big deal? I know people water their foundations often in the summer to help prevent cracking, why would consistent moisture be a problem?

Wife and I are buying our first home and the inspection said that this "may" be an issue. Everything is dry right now, no foundation problems at present. The inspector just noted that drainage may be bad and said I should be aware of it and noted that we should correct the issue if necessary.

[STRONGNUFF]

Other than possible leakage if it gets too high, why is this a big deal? I know people water their foundations often in the summer to help prevent cracking, why would consistent moisture be a problem?

Wife and I are buying our first home and the inspection said that this "may" be an issue. Everything is dry right now, no foundation problems at present. The inspector just noted that drainage may be bad and said I should be aware of it and noted that we should correct the issue if necessary.

I would think that if its constantly at one corner of the house it could cause that area to raise, and cause future foundation problems.

[95DRGT]

Where the water is coming from would be more of my concern. Slab leak..... or is this a drainage issue from runoff? If the later quick fix with some french drains.

[slow06]

I would think that if its constantly at one corner of the house it could cause that area to raise, and cause future foundation problems.

So essentially the opposite of the soil being too dry? Makes sense, just curious if it was anything deeper than that.

Where the water is coming from would be more of my concern. Slab leak..... or is this a drainage issue from runoff? If the later quick fix with some french drains.

We are talking about potential runoff issues, not slab leak issues. The inspector looked at the grading near the foundation in the back yard and said it was not ideal. He suggested that if we ever noticed water standing for more than 24 hours then we should have the area graded so water runs away from the foundation.

Simple enough, I was just curious why that was a problem since I have always heard people trying to keep the soil around their foundations moist.

[8mpg]

So essentially the opposite of the soil being too dry? Makes sense, just curious if it was anything deeper than that.



We are talking about potential runoff issues, not slab leak issues. The inspector looked at the grading near the foundation in the back yard and said it was not ideal. He suggested that if we ever noticed water standing for more than 24 hours then we should have the area graded so water runs away from the foundation.

Simple enough, I was just curious why that was a problem since I have always heard people trying to keep the soil around their foundations moist.

simple but not cheap to regrade your yard then resod.

If it is drainage, then as suggested above, a french drain would probably be best. Just make sure it is not a slab leak.

Foundation problems come from the clays expanding and contracting from different amounts of water in the soil. This is why lots of people choose to water their foundations to try and keep a nice consistent soil.

[IHaveAMustang]

So essentially the opposite of the soil being too dry? Makes sense, just curious if it was anything deeper than that.



We are talking about potential runoff issues, not slab leak issues. The inspector looked at the grading near the foundation in the back yard and said it was not ideal. He suggested that if we ever noticed water standing for more than 24 hours then we should have the area graded so water runs away from the foundation.

Simple enough, I was just curious why that was a problem since I have always heard people trying to keep the soil around their foundations moist.

Both of my houses were/are foreclosures. Both inspections turned this "issue" up, but I never had any problems resulting from it. I just put a few cubic feet of fill dirt in where ever it was low and compacted it. Now when my sprinkler system goes off, I don't see standing water. I guess either it runs into the grass now or it gets soaked up by the extra dirt/mulch I put on top.

[slow06]

Both of my houses were/are foreclosures. Both inspections turned this "issue" up, but I never had any problems resulting from it. I just put a few cubic feet of fill dirt in where ever it was low and compacted it. Now when my sprinkler system goes off, I don't see standing water. I guess either it runs into the grass now or it gets soaked up by the extra dirt/mulch I put on top.

That is the plan I was kicking around if I notice a problem. I just need to see where the soil is currently at against the foundation, if it's too high right now I might have to re-grade the yard to make it right (but hopefully not).