3 Causes of Standing Water in Your Crawl Space

If you’ve discovered standing water in your crawl space, it’s easy to tell yourself it’s not a big deal. After all, crawl spaces are supposed to be damp, dirty, and home to all kinds of pests, right? Not necessarily, and there should never be standing water pooling in the area under your home. Our crawl space waterproofing company in Raleigh is sharing the five main causes of standing water in your crawl space, their signs, and what you need to do about it.

 Why Standing Water in Your Crawl Space is Serious

First, let’s look at why you should get this issue taken care of quickly. Water under your home can lead to serious problems, including:

Mold Growth

Pooling or standing water in a dark, poorly vented area, like your crawl space will quickly lead to mold growth. These spores don’t just stay under your home, these microbes will make their way into your home. Soon, mold growth in your living areas can ruin your belongings, cause foul, stale odor, and can make you and your family sick.

Foundation Problems

Water quickly rots wood and can even damage concrete as it seeps through the porous material. If standing water is a continued issue, it can lead to soft areas in the floor or weakened foundation areas which will affect the structural integrity of your home.

Insects and Pests

Standing water in a dark, enclosed environment provides an attractive habitat to all types of pests, including damaging termites, venomous spiders, cockroaches, vermin, and even snakes.

Health Concerns

When water stagnates under your home and slowly evaporates, that air, often filled with mold spores, like we mentioned above, does travel upward through miniscule cracks and crevices. Breathing in mold and other bacteria can cause asthma attacks, headaches, rashes, and other significant health concerns.

A clean, healthy, safe home starts with a clean foundation, so if you suspect standing water, you can’t delay on getting it fixed.

3 Causes of Standing Water Under Your Home

There are three main causes of standing water under your home.

Groundwater

In Raleigh, it’s not uncommon for several days of heavy, saturating rain to fall. When the soil around your home can’t hold any more water, it will seep through the foundation walls or come up from the soil under your crawl space and lead to puddles and standing water under your home. Usually you’ll see this a day or two after heavy rains or several days of rain.

Surface Water

Surface water is runoff from rain running down your roof or overflowing from your gutter, or it could be from running water, like using a sprinkler to water your lawn or a hose to wash your car. Often you’ll see standing water around your home’s foundation as well as within your crawl space.  Like with groundwater, it will appear that the water is coming from nowhere because it’s seeping from below or through the walls.

Plumbing Failure

A plumbing failure can lead to rapid flooding under your home if it’s not seen. Most plumbing failures are a broken or leaking pipe under the home or a clogged drain under the home. To determine if the standing water in the crawl space is caused by plumbing, check the pipes in your home by looking for areas of moisture under the sink or within the walls. You can also station someone to look inside the crawl space where the water is, as you turn on water and flush toilets to determine where the leak may be.

Once you determine the cause of the crawl space flooding, you can then determine how you want to fix the issue. If it’s a plumbing issue, this can be repaired by a plumber, of course. On the other hand, if the issue is surface or ground water, you need to stop the water from getting in on a continued basis, and this can only be done by one of two methods:

1. Crawl Space Encapsulation – This completely seals the crawl space preventing water from seeping through the concrete or coming up through the soil. It stops pooling, but it also prevents excess humidity and dampness.
2. Crawl Space Waterproofing – This method involves using drains and pumps to eliminate water from around your foundation and keeps the area free of standing water and condensation.

Schedule a quote for Crawl Space Waterproofing Today

Keep your home clean and healthy with crawl space encapsulation or waterproofing. This won’t just eliminate standing water in your crawl space, it will also eliminate dampness caused from excess humidity and moisture evaporation and the long-term problems this will cause. To get a quote from our licensed, experienced team of crawl space and basement experts, reach out to us at 919-847-7072 or fill out the form below to get started.