spring water surfacing in driveway

[Russ]

Does any one have any experience dealing with the effects of a natural spring surfacing near houses?

I wonder how much of a risk this is to this house I am considering buying:

We have lived here 1 year. Last April, the water began surfacing in the driveway. It occurs after several days of rain. The water continues to surface for several days after the rain stops. The spring eventually dries up until it rains again.

Luckily the house is on a slope, so the water travels away from the house and into the street gutter.

The water was confirmed by the city as a spring. It was described as an 'artesian'.

The paved driveway was already completely cracked apart by a huge tree roots next to it, so there is no loss there.

There has been no water or flooding at all inside the house for the one year we have lived here.

My main concerns are.

1) That it never goes away (like it suddenly appeared) and becomes a big problem when I go to re-sell the property in 2 years. 2) Paving the driveway is useless because water will eventually destroy it (or paving it will force the water up in a worse place). 3) The spring begins to surface uphill somewhere under the house. 4) Its an eye sore that devalues the property.

Any opinions on these or others concerns?

Thanks,

[Goedjn]

.. . . .

Many people consider water features to be a GOOD thing. Pick a spot at or below the point where the water is arriving, and put in a pond, letting your subsurface water drain into that, and then off to wherever you can dump it. You may have to lay a fair amount of drain tile. HELP the water, don't fight it.

[Roger Taylor]

"Russ" wrote in message news: [e-mail]...>

This is common, and there are several places like this in our neighborhood, and likely not a serious threat to selling the house. Nevertheless, this is a fairly easy fix should you wish to pursue it. If your house is an uphill house, then the spring is not artesian, it is just where the hillside water table intersects the base of the concrete in your driveway, causing seepage during rainy periods. It is the result of an existing water table that was inadvertently excavated for the street, drive, and house. Tree roots might have also damned the water in that area. You should check nearer, and under the house for other springs, as they form uphill from the driveway.. Since the drive needs repair anyway, I would first carefully record exactly where the spring area is, clear off all the old concrete, remove roots back to the edge of the drive, and lay drainage tile conduits or very coarse gravel under the full width of the drive, starting at the uphill end of the spring, and run the tile or drain tubes out at the curb. When the rains come again, the water will run thru the coarse material, and the drain tubes, and go right out the path of least resistance, to the gutter. I would definitely consult with a (drainage or foundation) civil engineer (yellow pages) to get the specifics of how and where to run perforated and solid tubing, filter sleeves for the tubes, etc etc. You can pay him by the hour, and he will give you a spec sheet and hand sketch for instructing your concrete contractor. In my experience contractors know little of such things, and tend to hip shoot more often than not.

[Brian Attwood]

I was going to say bottle it up and sell it. People will happily pay more per gallon for "spring" water than for gas.

[Doug Kanter]

Even worse, I heard a news blurb about a month ago about someone who was successfully selling bottled water specifically aimed at dogs (or, really, dog owners stupid enough to buy it). The reporter briefly interviewed a veterinarian who said "Sounds pretty silly, considering that most dogs are perfectly happy to drink out of the toilet." :-)

[Jmagerl]

Not the same as a well but I used to have a house that had a sump that ran all the time. IT discharged about 20 ft from the driveway. the water sunk into the ground, ran down hill, and resurfaced right in the middle of it. After 5 years the once nice asphalt driveway was a bunch of black gravel. When I repaved I had to lay drain tile under the driveway to drain the water off and to keep it from percolating thru the asphalt.

[m Ransley]

A few Weeping Willow trees will take all that free water, make a pond and put in some proper plants in a few years the spring water will be gone. Most people would like the extra free water my area is drought.

[maradcliff]

Check your car. Are you missing any leaf or coil springs from your suspension? If you are, the spring broke in your driveway. Springs attract springs. Get your car spring replaced that toss the old spring in the neighbors yard. The water spring will move to his yard too. )Geezzzz. I couldnt resist this one(

If you believe this, I got a tropical island to sell real cheap. It's located beneath Chicago....... :) :) :)

[NickySantoro]

Happened to a relative of a relative. Came up through his basement floor. Don't know the final fix but it was expensive.

[yaofeng]

Bottle it up and make a business out of it. Sorry, could not resist.