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Water in crawl spaces wet crawl spacesIf you have a crawl space keep in mind water in crawl spaces and wet crawl spaces are things you should be aware of and take steps to prevent. If you do not take preventive measures you should expect expensive to correct problems to develop that can be prevented. First pipe the downspouts away from the home. Make sure the water that comes out of the downspouts is piped away from the home and the water that comes out of them flows away from the home. Also add soil around the perimeter of the home so surface water drains away. Allowing surface water to collect around the home is a sure fire way to allow water into your crawl spaces and get a wet crawl space. Installation of a vapor barrier (thick sheets of plastic) on the dirt floor of a crawl space is one way to help keep moisture away from the wood structure. While not a perfect solution a vapor barrier may keep crawl space moisture levels down enough to help avoid problems. Ventilation is necessary to minimize condensation and for when you get water in crawl spaces and wet crawl spaces so it can dry out. If there is no ventilation any water that gets in will cause problems. While grading soil towards the street is preferred if your property is below the street, or other proper discharge point, then use of a sump pump, to pump the water to a higher level, may be necessary. It is never wise to rely upon a sump pump if grading can accomplish the same thing. Grading uses no on going power, grading does not fail when power goes out and grading does not require any maintenance. Water proofing companies usually try to sell home owners on very expensive and frequently unnecessary foundation drains, curtain drains and trench drains. In most cases these expensive solutions are not at all necessary. First try to cure your water in crawl spaces wet crawl spaces by making sure roof water is not accumulating against the foundation, a vapor barrier exists and the crawl space is properly vented. Even if these measures by themselves are not enough you will surely reduced the amount of water the sump pump has to pump and help the situation. One advantage of asking a home inspectors opinion is we do not have any product to sell. We are not going to tell you to spend thousands of dollars when hundreds will do. Water in crawl spaces wet crawl spaces The above information was provided by TWI Systems Copyright 1995-2005 1-800-553-5660 |
