House crawl space water advice

[LostinVA]

Okay, so the pest guy was just here in the crawl space (flying squirrel problems, but that's another thread). He said there's ALOT of standing water around the foundation perimeter -- like 1." WTF??? He said there are no leaks from pipes, etc, no source of the water at all. He says it's like it's getting in somehow and not being able to get out. Any ideas? I do NOT have $3-5 to fix something bad!

I'll say this: when it rains, we have oodles of standing water in the yard, and it's rained and snowed alot this Fall and Winter. I have no idea how to fix this. WE bought the house in June.

[cally]

1. First thing to consider

is where the roof drains to. Many drains come straight down the house. You should either attach extenders to extend them two feet away from the house or buy cement splash pads. I live in California without snow so you may need other solutions.

The second thing to look at is to not have soil touching the house. Raise the beds and make sure the water drains away from the house. A cement ring is best.

Finally, you can dig a drain (french drain) to take water away if you can tell where the water settles.

All of these are not terribly expensive but do require lots of digging. I've had this problem in two houses and was able to solve it. Good luck.

In the long term, you may want to put plastic sheeting in the basement. We had this done rather than do it ourselves so you would have to figure out what exactly is needed.

[LostinVA]

2. All of these were things I thought MIGHT work

It makes me feel better to have someone else say it! As you said, most of it is cheap, so I'll try these before trying anything else more expensive. Thanks!

on edit: what does the plastic sheeting do?

[cally]

7. We had a lot of moisture below our house

so before we bought the house we had the pest guys put plastic sheeting (it could be some specialized type of sheeting) all over the ground. Our crawl space is only 12" in most places so we had them do this. We did it to prevent moisture buildup under the house. :shrug:

One more idea...our house has a drain that gets clogged. Most houses don't have this but you may look for it. I first found it when I saw a large puddle form by our front door. Turns out the metal grate had become clogged. We dug it out and the water drained away. That was easy. :-)

[Whoa_Nelly]

3. Moisture can accumulate in a couple of ways

Here's the how and what to do:
(Side note: Vapor barriers are required in northern Nevada where I used to live. Even with ventilation around the foundation, the extended time of moisture on the ground due to snow allowed for moisture to accumulate and also provided a venue for radon in the soil to rise.)

Moisture Vapor Retarders/Moisture Control.
In all framed walls, floors, roofs, and ceilings making up the building thermal envelope, a vapor retarder must be installed on the warm-in-winter side of the insulation, unless the framed area is ventilated to allow moisture to escape. (Vapor retarders are designed to prevent the movement of moisture-laden air from the warm side of the wall to the cool side. In temperate climates, vapor retarders are placed on the interior (warm in winter) side of the wall cavity; in hot, humid climates, they are placed on the exterior (warm) side of the wall cavity. According to the Asthma Regional Coordinating Council of New England, walls should be designed to dry to both the interior and the exterior and basements should be designed to dry to the interior. Installing vapor barriers interferes with the ability of walls to dry in both directions, so their use should be limited to severely cold climates. Paper-faced cavity insulation should be used in place of plastic interior vapor barriers.)

Foundations/Drainage.
Surface water must be diverted to a storm sewer or other approved point of collection. Lots must be graded to enable surface water to drain away from foundation walls. The minimum slope away from the foundation must be six inches fall within the first 10 feet. However, if this is not possible, drains and swales may be used to ensure drainage away from the structure. (Proper drainage is important in preventing wet basements, damp crawl spaces, and possible failure of the foundation.)

edited to add link of above:
http://www.afhh.org/aa/aa_housing_codes_dry.htm

[LostinVA]

5. Okay, this is one of the problems

The lot is graded so the water runs RIGHT to the foundation walls in the front of the house...

[Whoa_Nelly]

8. Couple of articles you may want to read

A problem that can result from moisture entering the foundation interior area from an exterior source is the growth of mold. You may have recourse money-wise to use your homeowner insurance to correct the problem.

Did you purchase any home warranty for the structure for first year of owning the home?

Is your home new construction? If so, the builder has a duty to repair this ASAP with no cost to you.

Scroll through these articles to read info about your particular problem:

http://www.buildiq.com/fndn804.htm

and

http://doityourself.com/insulate/insulatingfoundations.htm


Whatever you do re: repair to correct the problem, you may want to contact a home construction contractor about how to go about regrading the lot to reduce the flow of moisture.

[LostinVA]

9. Nope and nope to both questions

I did have a house inspection, and the house was fine then.

[Whoa_Nelly]

10. Home inspection reports can vary

due to the time of year the inspection was performed and the competence of the inspector. Was your inspector ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors http://www.ashi.org/ ) certified? If not, you may have had a home inspector that was not completely savvy. I don't know the regs in your state, but some states require inspectors to be certified ASHI through board testing before licensing.

If your inspector was not ASHI, or even if s/he was, you may want to get another inspection by an ASHI inspector, or find someone/company who is certified, licensed and bonded in structural moisture retardation.

[LostinVA]

11. Yes, the inspector was certified, etc., and yes it had been

raining hard for two days.

[DancingBear]

4. This water is inside the foundation wall/crawl space?

I hate to say this, but I'm thinking the way to fix this is with perimeter drains leading perhaps to a dry well in another part of the property. Do you know if you have them already?

Water has a magical way of finding the path of least resistance, and I'm gonna do a "Bill Frist" here and suggest that is what is happening i.e. it is being "wicked" in from somewhere.

The fact that you have a lot of standing water in other areas of the yard is somewhat troublesome as well. Have you any idea what your soil composition is?

If it was me, I'd at least bring a foundation/excavation guy out for a look.

[Whoa_Nelly]

6. Here's another article that you may find informative and useful

BTW, it's not uncommon to find moisture trapped in a crawl space, but it can be corrected.
You may be able to use your homeowner's insurance to correct the problem as collected moisture can cuase all sorts of extended problems that are not "healthy" for the life of your home.

A pic from the article:



The article:
Moisture Control in Homes

http://www.fcs.uga.edu/pubs/current/B924.html