Why Your Crawl Space Should Stay Dry And How To Waterproof It

A crawl space is similar to a basement in a lot of ways. You should think of it as a part of your home rather than part of the outdoors. That's because the space should be kept as dry as possible. Water in the crawl space can do a lot of serious damage to your home. Here's why you want to keep the crawl space dry and how to do it.

Why The Crawl Space Should Be Dry

If the space under your home is wet or damp, mold can grow and spread into your house. Humidity and foul odors will creep inside your house from the space below. If dampness is a problem, then bugs could become a problem, too. Roaches, termites, silverfish, and other destructive bugs are drawn to damp places. Bugs such as termites can damage the wood in the crawl space and put the floor of your home in danger. When bugs multiply under your home, it won't be long until they make their way inside your house. Drying out the crawl space eliminates problems with high humidity in your house as well as problems with mold, foul odors, and insects.

How To Dry Out The Crawl Space

First, determine why the area is always wet or damp. The culprit could be something as simple as new landscaping diverting water under your house. You might even have a leaky gutter, or the downspout might be pointed toward the crawl space rather than away from your home. These are easy problems to fix and may help dry out the crawl space. Other problems might not be so easy to fix, and in that case, you'll need a solution for waterproofing the area to keep water from causing problems.

How To Waterproof Your Crawl Space

Waterproofing a crawl space is similar to waterproofing a basement. If your crawl space has a concrete floor, you might want to have a sump pump installed. This system collects the water in a well, and then the pump sends it back into the yard so it drains away. A French drain might be another solution. This is a drain buried under the ground near your house. It catches water before it has a chance to reach your home. Then it drains the water into the street or other safe place.

Once the water problem has been dealt with, you may want to further waterproof the space by encapsulating it with barrier cloth or spray foam insulation. This keeps the crawl space nice and dry so problems with dampness and standing water disappear.

Contact a company like Rite-Way Waterproofing to learn more.