You may want to contact your Department of Natural Resources (or equivalent).

What do you suggest I ask them? I do not know what they would be able to do for us. As this is our first time ever dealing with underground springs, lol :)

I don't understand your word "stream," is it a high water table, a spring, or vein in the soil type that is acting as a drain for the surrounding sites? Where are you at in construction?

Foundations have to be designed for, or in the case with residential with no soil borings done prior to excavation, adjusted when they dig and find excessive water. So changing massing, putting a crawlspace instead of basement, raising the slab elevation for a look-out basement, etc. depending on what kind of water problem.

3onthetree - They didn't adjust anything when they figured out there was a ridiculous amount of water coming in, which was instantly after they dug. It is a underground spring, we did water sampling to figure out what it was. It is between a huge layer of rock and I forgot what it's called but it is almost like a clay type substance, it's very hard and almost black. We are at the point where they will be insulating the house next week. Thank you Jennifer K I will contact them.

What happens when the power goes out and the sump pump can't run for hours or days?

If the builder doesn't care right now, imagine once you close and the warranty runs out!

Might also want to talk to Wetlands Management Department, if your area has one.

A consultation with a lawyer might also be needed if you want to walk away and want to get your deposit back.

It's possible a sump could lower a water table at your foundation, or multiple houses lowering a larger area, but there is no guarantee and a "spring" directly under you at footing level is not good. As mentioned, City, then soils engineer. May be worth the $500-$1K for the engineer to get you out of the deal.

Diverting a natural waterway, either above or below ground, needed concurrence with our local waterways, environmental person at my city. She had a large map showing all water flows and impact on up and downstream levels. We gave up the project when we saw what was involved. Your homeowners insurance company may also be concerned.

Foundations have to be designed for, or in the case with residential with no soil borings done prior to excavation, adjusted when they dig and find excessive water

In building one home, a corner of the basement walkout excavation filled with water. requiring pumping every hour. Rather than provide a pump and sump, which would be a red flag for future buyers, we used internal and external weepers and backfilled that side with river run gravel to act as a reservoir. It worked!

Absolutely get a soils engineer's opinion and suggested solutions, if any. Ditto your lawyer.

We have a rock pit and two sumps in backyard. We have a creek out back plus a stream under our house too. Our excavation site was a swamp. We paid an extra 25k to get extra gravel and management of it with the geotechnical engineer and working with the district. Despite all that we still had a flood two weeks after we moved in as the rock pit outflow got clogged.

Your can have someone put in French drains in your basement perimeter as an option to help mitigate it and then improve drainage around the house and in the yard.

I assume you have a generator for power outages?

A S - we will have a battery power back up sump, and a spare close by. We are thinking an external pump out back too. The community will put in a french drain in the back where water lies(which is not the issue, since even in a drought, we have water pouring in) it will connect to the neighbors. We also already have a french drain around the foundation. We just don't want that kind of water in the basement. We want to divert it elsewhere. We will be getting in contact with the soil engineer. Thank you!

Also, does anyone know if this would be the developers responsibility? I get sometimes these are surprises. But talking to the neighbors, it's no surprise. They've had issues with water also.

Be very careful rerouting the stream around your house. If you reroute it into your neighbour's basement there will be hell to pay. This happened in my subdivision when someone decided to fill in a swale because they didn't like the look of it. Downstream neighbours all got flooded during the next storm. Legal nastiness ensued.

We were just looking to catch the water and divert it. Not reroute it :) One suggestion was putting a catch system in and a external sump pump hooked to the storm drain(which is legal in our city). So hopefully something will be done soon :)

Walk away!

I agree. Walk away.

You can try, but, most likely you will never find the solution to the water problem from underground spring. This will be a continual problem forever. WALK AWAY and find another location to build.

In my previous neighborhood, two lots remained 70 years after the subdivision was platted. The three houses across the street were all built without basements due to water issues.
The school district purchased the lots for their high school work experience program. The water level was about 6 feet down and the water began seeping into the hole as soon as the construction started. As you might expect from a home built by a nonstandard builder, there are various building and design issues delaying construction. Through the delays in constructing and sale, the sump continued to run. Issues continue to this day with questionable sales, strange renters, and a foreclosure. At one point the utilities were shut off and the basement had standing water and mold issues. Next ownership started with a dumpster.
Water issues don't just disappear but I certainly would!

We are at the point where they will be insulating the house next week.

So framed up, dried in, and roughed = done deal.

Separate battery backup and additional spare pump is good. External pumps and drywells aren't good in freeze/thaw climates though.

When you have a lot of water, there are best practices for basement foundations. I would bet none of these were done and the builder isn't even aware of them.

Examples of better:

- solid pipe, not corrugated

- drain tile cleanouts

- proper geotextile wrap and gravel all the way up the wall

- covering the asphaltic damproofing with waterproof membrane and dimple mat

- interior footing drain tile with other underslab pipes

- bentonite or neoprene footing key and slab seals

- non-retail bought pump and/or multiple sump pits sized for the measured gpm

- optional water-powered backup sump pump or generator

- grading and downspouts addressed

Not to alarm you, but a critical point is do the footings have the proper bearing soil. Even if their trash pumps could remove enough water temporarily to pour the concrete, what was the condition of the soil and who ok'd it?

They only thing they did, while being well aware there was a spring flowing, was exterior drain tile with other under slab pipes.. We asked many times to properly waterproof the outside. Which was not done, the mask they put around the edges were only about 50% of the basement exterior walls and it was bubbling already before the backfill. They said what they did was standard. We tried to remind them our house isn't "standard" anymore. Fell on deaf ears. Not sure on who ok'd the condition of the soil. They didn't really take care of the water(some dried up after putting in the under slab pipes) before they poured the concrete. They just poured it with standing water. I mean, at this point we want out sooner than later. Only because we know they are not going to do anything about it. And we don't want a house without proper precautions, water isn't something to just brush off. Especially that much. Just figuring out a way to wiggle out with the contract in place might be interesting. But hopefully our lawyer can find something!

Yes, lawyer up!

The solution should come from a civil engineer. Until you consult one you will only be compounding the problem.

Many surveyors also provide civil engineering services. The city engineering dept will only be involved if you need approval for the solution.

A lawyer might be able to use the engineer's analysis to help you break the contract.

when you have a creek/stream/spring/swale etc under your house, should there not be some kind of paperwork/diagram showing this with the city?

While municipalities will typically map surface water flows, they may not have a clue about subsurface flows. Landowners need to perform due diligence. Where soil testing indicates groundwater, a hydrogeologist may need to be consulted and more extensive testing performed to determine subsurface flows.

I was involve in a project where an artesian well flowed under the existing cottage. In the remodeling we rerouted the flow around the house. We soon received a call from the Army Corp of Engineers wanting to know what exactly we did.