Your crawl space is a dark and often damp area formed by your foundation blocks and it contributes significantly to the health, safety and value of your home.
Keeping the crawl space dry is the key to avoiding damaging wood rot, mold growth and termites. First and foremost, look for foundation cracks and pipe penetration leaks. Crawl space and basement crack repair is the first step in keeping your basement dry.
What's the solution to keeping your crawl space dry when you live in an area that has had a summer full of rain like Boston? There is no one simple solution.
There are some simple steps you can take to guard against groundwater moving into your crawl space.
First, get gutters on your house and keep them clean.
Make sure soil around your house is graded away from your foundation.
Under your house, check to see if any ductwork there is insulated.
Cover your crawl space dirt floor with a minimum 6-mil poly vapor barrier, overlapping all seams about 1 foot. Run the plastic to the edges of the cinderblock walls.
Outdoors, check to see if water coming from the drain line on your air-conditioning unit is dripping toward your foundation. If it is, use plastic plumbing pipe to redirect that line so water flows away from the foundation.
Check inside and out for foundation cracks. If you see foundation cracks, call a waterproofing specialist.
Make sure your irrigation system is not causing your ground to become too wet.
Keep shrubs at least 3 to 5 feet away from your house so you get good air circulation around the perimeter.
If you still have too much moisture in your crawl space, you need to take extra precautions.
Do not use humidity- or time-controlled fans. These fans draw in moist, humid air, possibly adding to the problem.
For information on basement crack repair, contact A-1 Foundation Crack Repair.
Chicago Tribune