With the Spring rains approaching, many homeowners in the Charlotte market will begin to experience frequent seasonal water intrusion issues inside their crawl spaces. It is important to remember not to panic, but to instead focus on identifying the underlying problems causing these symptoms to occur in the first place. In most cases, poor maintenance on the home is the primary driver for water intrusion penetration into crawl spaces. The attached video features an actual investigation recorded in real time at the time of the inspection with supporting narrative. Since this is a new homeowner new to the area, there was little to no data available prior to the inspection to establish accurate timelines. So, we had to start from scratch.
Please see the attached video for reference.
Customers tend to make quick, hasty decisions about these water intrusion problems inside crawl spaces without doing enough detailed research. Unfortunately, the industry tends to be very linear and predatory in nature. In many situations, customers receive repair bids that are aggressive, embellished, improperly designed, and too expensive to apply for most customers in the first place. Each inspection must be treated and evaluated on a case-by-case basis. There is never a one size fits all solution that applies to all situations observed in the field for water intrusion and/or moisture challenges inside crawl spaces, and the X never marks the spot. Often, detailed analysis by a qualified, independently trained professional can provide alternative, common sense driven, price efficient solutions that can be recommended and applied to solve these challenges inside crawl spaces proactively saving the customer thousands of dollars on unneeded services.
Start with common sense maintenance items first;
– Clean out the gutters of debris as needed and keep them free flowing.
– Upgrade the gutters and downspouts to extra-large sizes to carry a higher flow of water.
– Install 6 ft. gutter extensions at all downspout locations and get the water away from the foundation.
– If possible, install underground piping systems to move gutter discharge completely away from the house. Especially at above grade soil locations.
– Keep vent wells dug out and free of debris with 3-4” of pea gravel installed at the base of each well below grade.
– Install new vent wells at all below grade vent locations.
– Replace broken foundation vents.
– Remove all large invasive trees, shrubs, and bushes within 10 ft. of the foundation wall and grind out the stumps as needed to prevent root system heaving and associated hydrostatic pressure from building up against the foundation walls.
– Re-grade the flower beds to slope away from the structure.
– Deploy french drains, drainage swales, and rocky hardscapes along the flower bed areas to move surface drainage away from the structure.
If water intrusion challenges continue to occur into the crawl space area after these basic maintenance issues are applied, more aggressive measures can be explored and developed such as the application of foundation drains and/or sump pumps. Always start on the outside of the house first to prevent water from penetrating into the crawl space in the first place. For more information and potential strategies and solutions for crawl space waterproofing challenges please feel free to contact us directly for more information as well as scheduling site consultations. We are here to help!