Water In The Crawl Space?
What Causes Crawl Space Flooding -- And How To Deal With It
Crawl spaces can flood through the floor, the walls, through defective plumbing, and through open crawl space vents.
Any flooding source should be eliminated immediately to prevent potentially serious damage to the home.
More about Crawl Space Waterproofing
When it comes to flooding of any type in the home, Alabama home inspector Bill Madison said it best:
"If there are ten things wrong with a house,
fifteen of them have to do with water."
Whether it's in the the attic, the bedroom, kitchen, or crawl space, flooding water is never good news for a home.
Water is a destructive force -- one that can ruin building materials, encourage mold and rot growth, damage electrical wiring, and cause significant cosmetic damage.
In a crawl space, flooding water can soak and destroy fiberglass insulation, facilitate the creation of musty smells, encourage pest infestations, and lead to structural damage.
A sump pump and drainage system is a good start to waterproofing your crawl space. However, water (and humidity) can still enter through the vents, and humidity can also still enter directly through the dirt floor and foundation walls.
To truly protect your crawl space, we recommend installing a full crawl space vapor barrier system.
At Basement Systems, our worldwide network of more than 300 dealerships specializes in warranted solutions for crawl space problems all all types!
To schedule a free crawl space repair estimate with your local expert, contact us by phone or e-mail today! Each estimate includes an on-site inspection, personal consultation, and written cost estimate.
Where Is The Water Coming From?
Identifying where the flooding water is coming from is key to repairing the issue.
Once the issue is repaired, you may want something in place that will give you a "heads up" about future water issues, such as our WaterWatch® Alarm, which is designed to sound off when it comes in contact with flooding water. Our WaterWatch® system can also be integrated with home alarm systems, so you receive a phone call when there's a flood.
Crawl space water can flood in through the following entrance points:
From The Crawl Space Floor
When your crawl space was built, a large hole was first excavated in the hard-packed earth. The walls of your crawl space were then built, leaving a gap along the outer edges -- which is backfilled with a portion of the excavated soil.
Turns out, that soil is more loosely packed than the hard-packed earth around it. Consequently, it will also be more absorbent of water, which will soak easily into this soil -- especially if you have no gutter system or your gutters are clogged with rainwater. This building science phenomenon is known as the "Clay Bowl Effect".
As soil soaks into the earth, it heads towards the path of least resistance. If you have a dirt crawl space floor -- that's the path it's looking for!
More about the Clay Bowl Effect
Through The Walls
Water can make its way through your foundation walls in two ways:
Through Cracks In The Walls: Cracks in brick, mortar, and concrete can give water a pathway into your home, leading to significant leaking.
Directly Through The Concrete/Grout: Concrete and grout are porous materials that can absorb moisture and allow it a way into your home. Block foundation walls have open cavities in their design that can fill with water, which can complicate things.
Even when your walls look dry on the outside, water can be passing through, pulled immediately away into the air in your crawl space.
More about Crawl Space Humidity
From Plumbing Leaks
It's not uncommon for a plumbing leak to go unnoticed in a crawl space for a very, very long time. We've been in crawl spaces where there's evidence of a slow leak that's been going on for years!
Plumbing leaks -- especially sewage line leaking -- can destroy fiberglass insulation, bring unhealthy odors and fumes into your home, and potentially cause serious foundation damage.
To protect from plumbing leaks, we include a drainage system in each of our crawl space encapsulation systems -- either a sump pump or crawl space drain.
An included water alarm system sounds off to let you know about the plumbing leak right away.
More about our Crawl Space Repair Products
Through The Crawl Space Vents
Crawl space vent wells (which are usually holes lined by an aluminum liner) are notorious for pooling with rainwater and snow. As the water level rises in the wells, water will begin to flow through the grated openings of the vents, leading to flooding in your crawl space.
A more important moisture issue is caused by crawl space vents in the summer. As hot, humid air is brought into the crawl space, it is immediately cooled in this dark, underground climate.
The cooling humid air begins to drop its moisture (condensation) on all surfaces -- soaking fiberglass, wood, pipes, and other materials in the space. After flooding, this is the most significant source of water in a crawl space environment.
More about Crawl Space Ventilation
What Happens To A Wet Crawl Space?
A wet crawl space will quickly begin to deteriorate. Early signs will include various types of damage to insulation, wood, and rusty metal surfaces. Eventually, a moist environment in your crawl space will destroy the structure entirely.
A damp crawl space has the following effects on your home:
Mold & Rot Growth
Mold and rot have been the bane of crawl spaces since the first one was constructed!
Along with creating a musty, unpleasant environment in the crawl space, they can contribute enormously to the allergen level in the living space of your home and lead to potentially serious structural damage to wood floor joists and girders.
Mold, rot, and fungi need three things to survive: organic material for food, temperatures above 40F, and a relative humidity above 60%. A simple, easy way to keep mold from your house is to seal and dehumidify the space.
More about Crawl Space Mold
Damaged Fiberglass Insulation
Most insulated crawl spaces have fiberglass installed in between the floor joists. However, this building technique is becoming increasingly outdated; contractors are bow beginning to use a variety of other methods, including spray foam and rigid foam insulation.
In a humid environment, fiberglass will become soaked with moisture, which is pulled easily into the porous material. Wet fiberglass tends to compress and immediately loses its value as insulation.
Over time, the added weight will pull it from the joists and onto the floor, where it becomes am moldy, useless mess.
More about Rotting Fiberglass Insulation
Pests, Rodents, & Odors
Rotting wood, moisture, fiberglass, shelter, darkness, and a relatively warm environment all year long make a crawl space about as inviting a place as you can get for unwanted pests.
Wood-destroying insects such as termites and wood-boring beetles will feast on moldy, rotting wood, and carpenter ants will be glad to make it their home.
Mice love the environment in the crawl space, and will gladly nest in the warm, soft fiberglass. Predators such as spiders, snakes, and stray animals will move in to hunt the creatures thriving in the space.
More about Pests In The Crawl Space
Our CleanSpace® System installs quickly -- usually in less than a day -- by our experienced crawl space contractors.
The complete system includes a 25-year written warranty. This warranty can be transferred to the next owner of the home, providing you with a major selling advantage!
How Can I Stop Crawl Space Flooding?
Most crawl space problems can be fully addressed by maintaining a dry, clean crawl space. This process begins by installing crawl space vent covers and airtight doors to keep outside water and humidity out of the space.
Next, a drainage system should be installed to address all sources of flooding. This includes a perimeter drain system, a crawl space sump pump, and draining matting along the floors.
Moisture can be kept off the walls and floors by installing a crawl space vapor barrier, in the form of a durable, 20-mil liner on the walls and floors. Many homeowners opt instead for one of our crawl space insulation products, which double as a vapor barrier system when installed.
Finally, a floor drain is installed on the sump pump liner, which can drain all water from plumbing leaks. A water alarm is equipped on each drain, which sounds off to alert you of the flood.
We also recommend installing a crawl space dehumidifier to dry out wet building materials and to maintain a dry space.
Learn about Crawl Space Waterproofing
We Can End Your Crawl Space Water & Humidity Problems!
The experts at Basement System have spent decades perfecting our products and practices. Since the network first launched in 1987, we've successfully waterproofed hundreds of thousands of crawl spaces and basements throughout Europe and North America!
We want to show you how our warranted system can provide a permanent solution for your home! To sign up for a free crawl space repair estimate with your local dealer, contact us today!
We proudly serve Canada and the United States. Our free estimates include an on-site inspection and measurement of your crawl space, a professional consultation where we answer any questions you may have, and a free estimate for the installation of a customized system in your home. We'll also send you a copy of our informative, full-color crawl space booK!
Looking for a price? Get a no cost, no obligation free estimate.