Recently, a listener by the name of Mark realized that water had been leaking into his home’s crawl space after finding his insulation tethered and falling; he doesn’t know much about how to deal with this kind of issue and wanted to see if I could offer any suggestions.
Though this is a very serious problem, the answer is not to burn the house down—thankfully, there are some things you can do as a homeowner. As a disclaimer, we advise everyone to stick within their comfort level when attempting to remedy a situation like this; if you need a professional’s services or opinions, we have trusted companies that we rely on for help with water damage issues nearly every week. (Again, this is an extremely common problem). The biggest mistake I see homeowners make is to immediately replace the insulation because it seems like the quickest and easiest solution.
However, there’s no point in doing that before the root of the issue is fixed; new insulation won’t do anything to change moisture levels. The key is finding the water source first and replacing the insulation last. Let’s check those gutters right away. If you have little oak trees growing out of your gutters, that’s not a landscaping feature—trust us. Get everything cleaned up so that water can flow perfectly through your gutters, then make sure your downspouts are properly connected. Oftentimes in homes with this issue, we’ll find two or even three downspouts that aren’t diverting the water away from the house the way they should be.
Another possible culprit: your landscape beds. Over the years, we as homeowners tend to add all sorts of things to them (pine needles, pine bark, etc.). As those things decompose, it raises the elevation of the bed. Practically nine times out of 10, elevated beds will become a sort of ski slope that directs water straight back into the foundation wall. Here’s the rule of thumb: Starting at your foundation and moving outward, you want one inch of drop for every 10 feet. That’ll be enough to keep water flowing away from your property.
Also, make sure that your vent wells are free and clear of debris. I’ve seen homes where the vent well is below ground level, so it just gets flooded with water. All you have to do to fix that is devote a little bit of time to move some dirt around.
What if gutters, downspouts, and vent wells aren’t the source of your water woes? You could have groundwater coming up underneath your property, and in that case, you’d need to get a professional involved. Remedies for groundwater necessitate certain industrial-grade products and skills that are likely outside the scope of most homeowners. You may also have a mold or mildew problem, which professionals will also be equipped to handle.
So, start with the simple things first, and monitor the results. Hopefully, you found this information helpful. As always, reach out with any questions or real estate needs you may have by giving me a call or sending an email. I’d love to be a resource for you!
