Does anyone have any experience with a wet basement reservoir under a pier and beam foundation? Despite having talked to a handful of normally well-versed individuals who haven't ever heard of such a thing and extensive independent research, I have no idea what I'm getting into. Property is inside the loop in Houston, built in the 30's. Reservoir takes up about half of the foundation, the other half is crawl space.

Ideally, I'd like to drain it, (2.5-3 ft of water currently) seal it off, fill it, and never mess with it again. There's currently a non-functioning sump pump installed. I'd assume once it's up and running that would reduce the level to a few inches of water under normal circumstances. On the other hand, the basement may serve a very legitimate purpose.

I have a few contractors coming out to look at it this week, but would appreciate any insight beforehand. Anyone ever dealt with these things? Worth the hassle or should I just run away?

Sorry, can't offer input, but I'm intrigued on what you find out.

So you have piers that sit in the reservoir? I would think that having half of a crawl space of standing water would contribute to moisture levels too high for a crawl space foundation. My crawl space was mostly exposed dirt and I had a vapor barrier put in to keep moisture down, as do many crawl spaces.

I still get some water down there after heavy rains but much remains below the vapor barrier now. Would water naturally collect in that area if you were to drain it? If so I wold be inclined to drain it, fill it in some fashion, and get that sump pump working for when you get heavy rains.

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wet basement reservoir under a pier and beam foundation

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Wow - never heard of this. I would think that having water under your house is never a good idea. If possible I'd try to find a gravity fed way to reroute the water away from the house.