how to get moisture out from under my home

[chill69]

I have noticed that water, in the form of a soggy foundation, has collected under my double wide. I smell mold in my bath room. After investigating under my home, I found that I could smash a ruler up to 2 feet into the ground, just under where my bathroom sits. I want to save my home, but don't know what to do first. Can anyone instruct me?

[rbonnie]

Sounds like you have a plumbing leak, either in a supply line, or a drain line. Open the bottom board to investigate, under the bathroom, being careful in cutting the bottom board, so that it can be patched back when the repair is completed. If this is the case, the bottom board may be sagged down at this location, and you can feel the water weight from the crawl space.

[David Oxhandler]

To get a better idea of how to fix the probelm when you find it read the free article Understanding and Installing Manufactured Housing Waterlines

[chill69]

thank you for your prompt attention to my post. after further investigation,
i have found that the moisture collecting under my home is not a matter of plumbing, but of ground water drainage and standing water on the front of my home. i have had a professional come look at it and i have no clear answer on what to do, as it seems major grading and land sculpting must be done.
thankx.

[David Oxhandler]

I had water running down hill under my home that was starting to wash out the foundation system. We installed a French Drain on the high side of the house.

A French Drain is nothing more than a trench that goes across the end of the home where the water is coming from. Its depth will depend on the amount of water you want it to handle. At my place we trenched down about 5 feet.. put about a foot of drain field rock on the bottom... above that layer of rock we put perforated pipe with the holes pointing up. We extended the trench and pipe around to the low side of the house and let it break out of the ground at a steady drop. We covered the pipe with six inches of rock, then a layer of septic field sand filter paper, and then rock to the top.

PLAN CUT VIEW OF FRENCH DRAIN


This creates a drain that will carry the water around the house and drop it off the low side... The ground water drains from the surface into the gravel, this water flows through the gravel slowly into the perforated pipe which acts like a "highway" removing water from the trench

We are fortunate as the low side of our property drops into a lake. You may run into a problem is there is another home or other fixture on the low side that your drain water would damage. . French drains can lead to dry wells or environmentally-friendly rain gardens where the extra water is held and absorbed by plants, when city water systems, or other waste water areas can not be used.



VIEW OF FRENCH DRAIN FROM THE TOP


FRENCH DRAIN WITH BASE ROCK AND PIPE

For more details see:

How To Install French Drains for Yard Drainage

Wikipedia on French Drain

French Drains cure Saturated lawns & basement flooding