Hey guys,
So I live in a rental in Australia.
The house is an old style Queenslander with an concrete under house section.
Whichever genius built this place decided that to get extra head room under the house they would just excavate down a foot or so and concrete line the whole thing.
It rains heavily regularly here and the under house is constantly being flooded with water.
Pictured is an area of water upswell which literally fountains up from beneath the house slab when it rains.
Clearly there the water is running through the ground being pressurised up through the slab.
The real fix would be to raise the house and pour a new slab above ground level but it's a rental so I'm not going to do that.
Is there something I can use to seal the areas of upswell in the slab? Like an expanding foam or concrete sealant. This would be temporarily but would solve my problem as a renter.
>tldr: water comes up from beneath my house. Is there something I can seal the concrete with?
>>1010875
You could try to seal it up but its doubtful it would help. In how many areas are you having water ingress? If its just a few it might be better to get a pump or two and just pump as needed to get the worst of it out.
I would imagine that sealing out groundwater is a losing battle. It'll just pop up someplace else. Sump pump I guess.
Op here :
I guess the solution would be for the next 6 months, so it really only needs to be a temp kinda thing.
There are at least 2 major ingress spots and possibly smaller in the multiple cracks.
Definitely a losing battle.
>>1010875
Get the landlord to fix it. Tell him you're having mold allergies or something.
I don't know how yall do it down in Ausland, but un-permitted home repairs around here will forfeit your deposit. ESPECIALLY if you don't know what you're doing (and since you're asking on 4chan, you don't).
Once when I was apartment hunting we went to a nice looking place but the landlord warned us that a crazy old lady had just moved out and he hadn't been through the place yet. When we went in we saw that she had gone around the entire floorboard with expanding foam along the floor and the wall, ruining the trim (which was original from the 1920's).
Beautiful antique hardwood flooring that was forever destroyed with ugly yellow expanding foam. Presumably she was trying to keep out a draft or something, and the landlord went ballistic because he could have come in and fixed the issue (properly) with just a couple hours of work. When we left he was on the phone with his lawyer saying that he wasn't just going to keep her deposit but wanted to sue her for damages.
In my place of residence the law says the landlord has 30 days to fix an issue or you can hire your own guy and deduct the cost from your rent.
To my knowledge it's very difficult to keep water from welling up through floors in the basement. Water pressure is a biatch.
Start by luring all the neighborhood cats. After collecting about 200 cats skin them. Use cat meat blended with beef to lower cost and increase profit she. You sell wholesale to local grocery chain. Get cat pelts sewn together for a nice throw rug. And get a ducking sump pump for the water
>>1010875
As far as I know the owners are required by law to keep the property in good working order. Water flowing out of concrete is definitely not normal. I'd say contact the rental agency or owner if done privately. Love Queenslanders by the way. I'm in Gympie and they are everywhere I love it.
>>1010875
>but it's a rental so I'm not going to do that
just move house. the correct fix is to install proper drainage around the perimeter. they arnt going to do this. it's an old house and they were designed to be flooded underneath. that's the whole point of a stilted house. it wasnt laid deep into the earth. the foundation has just settled.
cause trouble and they will just passively evict you. the landlord will make up shit about you paying the rent late or whatever if you decide to complain.
yes yes, there are laws. no, nobody is going to enforce them you are fucked.
