Water entering your crawl space can come from many sources. Waterproofing the crawl space can sometime involve outside and inside water management solutions. Here are 7 crawl space waterproofing tips to help you keep your crawl space from flooding.
Why is My Crawl Space Flooding?
Below is a video that shows and explains why your crawl space is wet and flooding. Water seepage around your home and into the foundation walls or footer can cause a wet crawl space or basement.
Whether you choose interior waterproofing or exterior waterproofing, make sure you choose a permanent solution that fits your budget. Keep in mind sometimes the worry free fix is addressing the problem from the inside and outside.
7 Crawl Space Waterproofing Tips
1. The ground around foundation should slope away from your home.
This may have little impact on actually redirecting large amounts of water. Funneling water from you foundation can even be impossible if a hill is sloping toward your home.
2. Keep gutters clean to avoid overflow during rain.
Check your gutters annually even if you have gutter guards installed. Remove any debris or build up to avoid overflowing the gutters.
3. Make sure downspouts are clear and water is flowing to daylight about 10-20 feet away from the foundation.
Downspout extensions are a great way to move roof water from your homes foundation. Sometimes cutting through sidewalks or driveways may be necessary to accomplish this task.
4. Make sure you are using solid corrugated pipe with downspouts. Vented pipes can allow water to drain around your foundation.
We have seen homeowners have to redo their downspout extensions because they are unaware that a perforated pipe will just continue to dump roof water near the foundation.
5. Keep shrubs and plants away from the foundation.
The root systems can create easy channels for water to pass directly to your homes foundation. Well established neighborhoods commonly suffer from this problem.
6. Consider installing a crawl space sump pump.
Sump pumps and french drains in the crawl space or basement will capture and redirect water as it enters. This may be needed if your foundation walls are wet but the ground is not flooding. If the walls are wet, it is only a matter of time before the water floods your crawl space or basement.
7. Use a permanent solution when addressing water issues to save you time and money.
Taking the easy cheap approach could by you some time but as materials and labor increase it is a bad idea to kick the can down the road. Make sure your approach to addressing a flooded crawl space or basement is a permanent approach.
Contact Crawl Space Ninja for Foundation Waterproofing and Encapsulation
Please contact us to schedule your assessment to fix your crawl space, basement or yard drainage issue.
Do you need help with mold removal, crawl space encapsulation, crawl space insulation, vapor barrier, waterproofing, foundation repair, basement waterproofing, or controlling humidity in your crawl space?
If you live in Georgia, Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio, or Kentucky, Crawl Space Ninja can help!
Also, let us know in the comments below if you have an idea for a new blog topic.
DIY Crawl Space Repair
Perhaps you’d like to tackle your own crawl space repair. Visit our DIY Store.
Join Crawl Space Ninja as an Owner
Learn about Crawl Space Ninja Franchise opportunities.
