Why Waterproofing Your Crawl Space Is Crucial
Even if you take perfect care of the rest of your house, your crawl space is one area of your home that’s easy to forget about. After all, this area is completely out of sight, and many homeowners believe that their crawl spaces don’t require any special type of care. If you don’t waterproof your crawl space, however, the rest of your home could be damaged, which means you’ll need to make sure that this part of your house is completely impervious to moisture. But what dangers does a wet crawl space pose, and what are the best ways to protect your home?
Wet Crawl Space Dangers
When your crawl space is wet, the structural integrity of your entire home is diminished. Here are a few of the specific ways that water damage in your crawl space can damage your home:
Wet Insulation
If water gets into your crawl space, it can saturate the fiberglass insulation in your walls or crawl space ceiling. Unlike other home construction materials, fiberglass retains moisture, and over time, the moisture in your fiberglass insulation can leach into and damage drywall, wood, or even concrete.
Fungus
Any amount of moisture in your crawl space makes it easier for fungi to grow. Once fungus takes hold in the wood in your crawl space, it can provide a medium on which black mold can reproduce, and if left unchecked, this type of mold can pose a serious health hazard for everyone who lives in your home.
Foundation Damage
While your concrete foundation might look like a little bit of water couldn’t hurt it, if your foundation is exposed to water over a long period of time, it can start to break apart. When your foundation starts to break up, the structural integrity of your home can become damaged beyond repair.
Dry Crawl Space Solutions
Here at CrawlSpace care, we provide a number of solutions that will keep your crawlspace dry. Some examples of these solutions include:
French Drains
One of the best ways to get water out of your crawl space is to install an interior perimeter French drain. These drains consist of pipes that are laid down in a trench dug around the perimeter of your crawlspace, and these pipes all connect at a certain location where water is removed.
Sump Pumps
The water collected by a French drain system is generally removed by a sump pump. This type of pump pushes the water collected by your drains out of the house via a PVC pipe.
Solve Your Crawl Space Problems with CrawlSpace Care
If you want to protect the health of the people who live in your house and maintain your home’s resale value, giving your crawl space the attention it deserves is all-important. If you assume that your crawl space is doing just fine without proper drainage, you could be in for a rude awakening.
Here at CrawlSpace Care, we provide homeowners with complete solutions for keeping their crawl spaces perfectly dry. We install complete French drain and sump pump solutions, so give your crawl space the care that it needs and contact us today and receive a free quote.
