Crawl space moat


  #1  
Old 03-26-17, 10:37 PM
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Crawl space moat

800 sq ft ranch in Illinois is having a crawl space issue and I'm not sure who to call to fix. Inches of water in trench inside crawl space. Foundation looks wet, but it rained a bit last night so I don't know if this is normal.

Checked water meter and it's not showing water usage so I doubt it's a leaky pipe from inside house. Lots of moisture down there as it's yanking my insulation down. Possible mold growing on insulation.

Any ideas how to fix or what's going on? I have gutters that sometimes jam up with leaves. Maybe water is going over sides instead of draining out away from foundation?
Selling house soon but am stuck until this gets sorted.

Take a look at this video for info. Thank you!!!
https://youtu.be/_azBkJY74fo

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Last edited by PJmax; 03-26-17 at 11:07 PM. Reason: added pics from video
  #2  
Old 03-26-17, 11:13 PM
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I moved you to the waterproofing forum.
I posted some pics from your video. Not everyone can see videos.

If you had water in your crawlspace and you didn't know where it was coming from would be one thing but it appears that every wall is wet in your crawlspace. It looks like there is water coming in everywhere.

You mentioned that a gutter may be overflowing. Cleaning the gutters is the first place to start. You need to make sure your grading around that foundation pitches away from it.

So either you have grading problems or you have extremely wet soil and the foundation should have been waterproofed when it was installed.

Has this been an ongoing problem or something more recent ?

I'm not the pro here so the others will stop by and comment too.
 
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Old 03-27-17, 02:39 AM
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I agree with Pete in that we need to see pictures of the exterior of the house to determine if there is anything that could be done there to help. It definitely looks like water infiltration, and if there is mold growing it isn't something that happened with the last rain. It has been going on for a while.
 
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Old 03-27-17, 02:43 AM
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Thanks for your help on pics. The house is over 60 years old and I don't remember this ever being an issue but I've only been down the crawl a handful of times in 20 years of ownership. I remember it always being dirty but never full of water.

The roof is pretty much a simple looking upside down "V" with one eve in the front. Kind of like how a kid draws a simple house. Also, I live near the top of a hill.

Any more info needed?
 
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Old 03-27-17, 03:09 AM
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We can't see what you see. There may be some item that you may be overlooking that we can discern from pictures of the exterior of the house. All 4 corners would be great.
 
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Old 03-27-17, 03:35 AM
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Pay attention to water run off when it rains. The ground might be directing water to the foundation. Along with cleaning the gutters make sure the downspouts are piped away from the foundation. Also look for voids in the foundation.
 
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Old 03-27-17, 07:12 AM
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The sagging insulation is telling us this isn't the first time there has been water down there. The water was also the reason for the trench.

Those pictures will help

Bud
 
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Old 04-15-17, 07:05 AM
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Why not hire a licensed, experienced, home inspector (or a local retired contractor) to look at your crawlspace ? If you are going to sell.....sometimes it is best to get ahead of the curve and find out what the buyer's home inspector will find.

Are you on clay soil...or rock or.....?
Has it been raining a HUGE amount for some days....before you noticed water in crawlspace ?

x2 on post #6
 
 

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