Crawlspace floods with water, but it doesnt touch the wood, ok?

tlbean2004

9 years ago

I have a crawlspace that is about 2 ft from the ground. The back right corner will flood with water when it rains because the ground slopes downwards from one side of the house to the other. Water will pool up in the corner maybe about an inch or so. But since the floor joists are high off the ground the water does not touch them and they seem to be in good shape.
I also keep the vents open year round for air flow.
There are 10 vents and the house is less than 900 square feet.

Should i worry about this problem. They house is 55 years old and im sure it has been doing this since it was built.

The house to the left of me is about 2ft hight than mine becuase of the slope.

Please provide opinions...

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Comments (7)

User
9 years ago
No, not good at all. The ground should slope away from the house in all directions. And you should have a vapor barrier over the soil in the crawlspace after you reslope your yard. A contractor wtih a bobcat can regrade the yard in short order. You can do the vapor barrier yourself though. It's just dirty frustrating work, which is why it is ideal for DIY rather than to pay someone to do it.
kirkhall
9 years ago
Not good, and it should be "fixed".

How often does this happen (once a year, or monthly?)
Do you have gutters and where do they drain to?
tlbean2004
Original Author
9 years ago
No gutters on the house. Any water that enters the crawlspace will sit on top of the vapor barrier and evaporate over a few days.
That is why i keep the vents open for ventilation.
It will flood with a heavy rain.
User
9 years ago
No, not good at all. This is an ASAP type of problem to correct. Get some quotes to regrade the yard properly. You need to design a water management system for your house and lot. You cannot direct the runoff into someone else's yard to deal with. You've got to figure out how to deal with it utilizing storm drains or french wells. But you've got to keep it away from the house. It will ruin it.
kirkhall
9 years ago
You may find just simply directing the water from the roof away from the house will be enough.

Start with gutters that drain away from the house at the least, and into a storm sewer at best. Check with your local permitting office for what is required.

An inch in a corner isn't that much (We had inches under ours). I'm hopeful just roof water re-direction would be enough for you.
jcalhoun
9 years ago
You will eventually get molding issues in the subfloor which will lead to rot and deterioration. I went through that a couple years ago and had to replace a large section of flooring. I added forced vetillation which help some.

The best fix was when I completely covered all surfaces, joists, etc under the house with Bora Care and then had an insulation company completely encapsulate the underside of the house with 1 inch of spray foam. Adding gutters will help some but only if they deliver the water a good ways from the house. Otherwise the storm water will saturate an already wet ground and leach in anyway.
rwiegand
9 years ago
We looked at a house that was 280 years old, built into the side fo a hill. It had a running spring in the basement. The floor was stone and someone had cut a channel in the stone to carry the water across the basement and out the front of the house. There did not appear to be any dire bad consequences of this situation.