Go Back  DoItYourself.com Community Forums > Interior Improvement Center > Basements, Attics and Crawl Spaces
Reload this Page >

Crawlspace Foundation Gap - To seal or not to seal

Crawlspace Foundation Gap - To seal or not to seal


  #1  
Old 10-23-17, 07:22 PM
T
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: USA
Posts: 2
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Crawlspace Foundation Gap - To seal or not to seal

Hi all,

I moved into my first home in the Chicagoland area last year. During our home inspection, our inspector noticed that there was a gap where the crawlspace foundation meets the basement foundation. The house was built in the 50s and over the past year, I haven’t experienced any issues with the gap. Nor have I felt any imbalance in the living area above. However, to be safe than sorry, I’m looking to do something about it. Especially, since I plan on encapsulating the crawlspace in the future. My first thought was to close it up with Quikrete Hydraulic Water-Stop cement, but maybe it’s supposed to be open for some reason. Another thought I had was that maybe the wood is meant to help absorb moisture from deeper in the foundation walls and allow it to evaporate through the gaps. However, the wood has obviously rotted away on one side and so that system may be done for. Additionally, past ventilation methods don’t seem to be the correct way to deal with damp crawlspaces now-a-days.

To be specific, the gap is on both sides in the exact same spot. The area isn’t significantly wet, even after heavy rainfall. However, if you reference the photos you can see exposed earth behind it as you would if one were to drill a hole in the foundation. Therefore, there is some moisture. Also, it was difficult to tell on my end and photos wouldn’t have done it justice, but it seemed like there may have been additional wood running along the outer edge of the foundation, slightly under the surface and just outside the foundation walls. That makes me think that this is all one type of old school ventilation system. There are also, two ventilation windows at the top of the foundation. One of which I currently have a fan blowing outward and the other is closed off.

It’s tough for me to justify getting a professional to inspect it. My home inspector just said that I might want to get it checked out, but he didn’t raise any red flags. The crawlspace is damp, but that’s the case with any exposed crawlspace that hasn’t been encapsulated

I’ve attached four images. Two of each side. One of the whole area and another close-up.

Thank you for the help.
 
Attached Images     
  #2  
Old 10-25-17, 06:06 AM
K
Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 222
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
So this short wall with the bottom gap is an exterior foundation wall? Behind it is dirt that goes on and on...? I ask because it almost looks like there is another crawlspace behind it or else the dirt has just eroded and is no longer packed against it. I'll hold off on my reservations and defer the expertise to the home inspector. Given the information at hand and since you are going to encapsulate the space I'd just pack the area with bricks or pieces of bricks and then encapsulate.

Edit: Looking at the pictures again, where is the basement wall? I originally thought the black sealed wall was basement but then noticed both left and right walls are painted.
 
  #3  
Old 10-25-17, 07:51 AM
T
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: USA
Posts: 2
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
The foundation wall painted black is the one facing the basement. I'm assuming that's a black waterproofing sealer to prevent water from entering the basement. The short wall is part of the crawlspace and the crawlspace dips about 4' below surface level and the basement about 7'. Beyond the short wall is just the outside dirt as if you were to break through the foundation. I've attached a sketch for reference of where the gaps are. I too, was thinking of packing the holes with gravel and brick and covering them up. Especially, if I'm going to encapsulate it, I would want any holes, gaps and leaks patched up. The more I look at it, I think this was just some way to ventilate any moisture that was hugging the exterior foundation walls and the wood underneath was one way to pull that moisture into the crawlspace so it could exit through the wood floors or ventilation windows. Since encapsulating crawlspaces is common now and closing up those vents is part of the process then it probably doesn't make sense for these gaps to exist. Hopefully, that's the case and these gaps aren't part of a more serious issue.
 
Attached Images  

Last edited by ThisGuy.; 10-25-17 at 08:54 AM.
  #4  
Old 10-25-17, 08:39 AM
K
Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 222
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Ah, I see it now - thanks for the drawing. I had the black wall (yep, waterproofing sealer) as two separate walls in my head and couldn't figure out the layout.

The packing would be more to hopefully reduce further erosion into the crawlspace. Sealing it against leaks in that corner would be tougher since the bottom of the foundation is that high but if you don't have standing water after rain or seepage coming in then that would be of less concern.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: