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This is the first time I have been around crawl spaces. I have always had slabs. How concerned should a person be if they have mositure at the lower levels of your crawls space? Is it ok as long as the vapor barrier bag is over it? Can gutter blockage or inefficeint routing be a sole source for this? I have a bid from a company to come in and "waterproof" about 1/2 the length of outside of the house. They are going to redo the foundation drain with more gravel also, and vapior barrier the outside of the house after plastering and "black mammy". Cost is to be about 2,200. Since four gutter downspouts tie into one, they are going to redo them into seperate drainage also. Has anyone experienced this process before? FYI the house is 4 years old and I have only owned it two months. The builder did come back and dry lock a small portion on the inside to keep moisture out, but I think this is a temp fix to me.
Once this is done, is this considered a plus for resale or a big red flag? Does DRY locking the whole inside of the crawl space help or hinder resale?
I am just trying to get a feel for this issue. I don't know if this is a normal issue people deal with and if it is, how do people deal with it? I do not want to let the company scare me into anything that I don't really have to have. I have another "grading" person coming out to see if there is another way to divert the situation without the big dig-up way. I will listen to any and all advise/experiences and use the best judment in how I tackle this. Just don't want to get scammed by the "your house is gonna crumble next week" companies
Your house will be fine without any of the work for now however, a little prevention goes a long way. How old is the house anyway? I am assuming you have pipes running along the "ceiling" of your crawl. How old are they? Does the crawl have vents?
Personally, I feel it's worth the money to ensure that there's no drainage issues. Get a guarantee no matter what happens. Moisture and water are deadly over time and can cause problems with your air quality in your home. Is there evidence of mold?
House is 4 years old. Pipes in ceiling all good. It just comes in a little bit where the footer meets the block on the bottom. The crawl space is close to be able to stand up in. Comes in on the wall that is the lowest point in the house and comes in at the bottom mortar joint at a place or two. Just didn't know if it is a typical crawl space thing. The crawl space has vents. Probably 14 or 15 of them spaced out about every 4 feet or so.
Right now I have "plugged it and sealed it with dry lock from the inside but I know I need a more realistic solution from the outside.
Ok. One more dumb question: Do you have a sprinkler system? Is it possible that while running a sprinkler system that water gets into through the vents?
You really shouldn't have that much trouble with moisture if the house is only 4 years old and vented properly. I would make sure there aren't any drain or gutter blockages first. You would probably know right off the bat just by seeing if there are any pools of water around certain parts of your crawl. Same thing with leaks. You said they are redoing the foundation drain. Is this necessary?
You may just want to put a dehumidifier down there first. Regardless, by the end of the summer, especially a humid one, you will have moisture in your crawl. I have always been told that vapor barriers are overrated and many are not properly installed.
ok...tell the waterproofing company to take a hike. Make sure you have a positive grade around the outside of the foundation to shunt water away. If you don't, add some clay based soil around the foundation with a wheel barrow and shovel. It doesn't take much slope to push the water away...it also doesn't take much slope to let it in.
If you have gutters, get splash blocks at a minimum, corrugated pipe would be even better to carry water away from the house. If you have a heavy mulch buildup, back it off the foundation walls; they are masonry - therefore porous. (mulch holds water to the walls where it wicks in through capillary action)
Your house is 4 years old, the waterproofing applied to the foundation is good for another 20 or so years.
Install a dehumidifier as mentioned, 100% vapor barrier on the ground, and if you live in a humid climate keep your foundation vents closed. Humidity is pulled into the crawl where it condenses on cold surfaces such as plumbing and HVAC ductwork. This can cause your crawl to create a nice rain forest environment lol.
Water proofing companies are masters of the upsell.
For the record, I am a licensed general contractor and home inspector. I have inspected roughly 10,000 homes and commercial buildings.
Thanks for all the input.... Just a little more info to ponder.
At first I thought it might be the gutters. All the gutters when I bought the house were plugged with pine needles. Some were plugged even farther down the spout. I had a gutter company come out and help me unclog and find the ends of the gutter tubes (underground) After all that, I thought I had my problem solved. On the front of the house, There are 4 gutters that seem to funnel into one exit. One of the companies that came out, said that each should be seperate and that 4 on one is not a good thing. There is definetly a foundation drain running on the wall were the mositure comes in at, and it does have water funneling out after a rain. It seems to take a while to funnel, but it is visible.
Any mositure that came in, went under the barrier bag and eventually dried and hardened up after a couple of days.
I apreciate your inputs very much so. It all will educate me in making a good decision.
if the gutters are not overflowing the top and draining out of the downspouts as they should, that setup should be fine given that it is dumping so far from the structure (and assuming the slope is not graded towards the house in that area)
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