Tips for waterproofing crawl spaces

Waterproofing all the crawl spaces in your house can be a very good investment because it can help you escape from floods, mold, mildew and insects. Next you will find some tips of how to waterproof your house effectively.

Before building the house

The terrain where you are going to build your house is a very important aspect.

If the land where the construction has been built is just above the water, then there will be a lot of problems regarding the crawl spaces. A possible solution would be to find a place where there is no basement or crawl space but everybody would advise you to look for something else.

Exterior drainage

In case your house is near a lake, a pond or a river, it’s important to make sure that your house has exterior drainage. For a well done job, you should use a waterproofing agent, a base of clean gravel and a tile drainage system.
In your plan, you should include also a sump pump with a battery backup which can help you in case of flooding. All the water should be thrown away at a distance of 8 to 10 feet and this can be done with gutters and drain pipes.

Sump pumps

Dealing with water in a crawl space can be difficult. This is why you will need a sump pump with proper piping and a battery backup system, in case of a power outage. In case there is a septic system, you have to be very careful because you don’t want to drain from the septic tank.

Keeping the interior air dry

You will need also a dehumidifier to keep moisture at a low level and the air ventilation should be reduced as much as possible. There could be also some moisture seepage through the concrete, so you will need polyethylene vapor barrier to stop this.

A flooded crawl space

If the water in the crawl space stays at a level of 2 inches, you have to follow the steps above and get a specialist to help you solve the problem with the flooding. It would also be very good to have a sump pump just in case the water enters through seepage.

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